Minecraft: Yaebi the Zombie
by The Disciple of Herobrine
Summary: Unlike any of his kind, Yaebi himself also struggles with the daily toils of living in the the leaderless world of Minecraftia. Based on the Mob Talker Mod for Minecraft.
1. Chapter 1

In one of the darkest caverns of Minecraftia monsters bellowed in the darkness creating an endless echo to fill the rooms. Only one creature remained silent. This creature was not quiet from drowsiness but from sorrow. It was Yaebi, the zombie. Perching on a stone slab, water trickled from above, drenching the poor boy. Yaebi was too depressed to move from his spot. Stopping this annoyance wouldn't change anything.

For two years he endured the same burden. It was a burden that no one else could relate to as far as he was concerned. It wasn't being a zombie that was the problem. In fact, he was the one special Zombie that was 91% human. Very few monsters were like that. The real problem was the fact that people always thought that he was a girl. He felt suppressed when people treated him this way. Usually, if anyone had the same problem they would shrug it off and go on with their normal lives. But this was different for Yaebi. Living in a cavern didn't open very many opportunities for friendship or any type of relationship for that matter. Other mobs would come and go very rarely but those that did would talk with Yaebi briefly and then leave before he could tell them that he was a boy (because they always assumed that he was a girl). Yaebi knew those mobs spread the word occasionally because in three or so weeks, the young teen would be encountered by one of the mobs friends who would treat him as such. And because, creatures would only pass through on errands, Yaebi could never prove that he was a boy in time. These people don't matter; he would think to himself, I probably won't see them again. But deep down he knew that word would spread on the surface and end up coming back to him.

Some said he was a cute girl others would mention him being a shy girl. No matter what no one would learn the truth. Perhaps the worst part of it all was that NO ONE believed anything Yaebi said. The Zombie boy wasn't prone to lying, so that wasn't the case. The reason nobody believed Yaebi was the fact that the majority of Humobs (the human formed mobs such as himself) were all female. Therefor everyone automatically assumed that all Humobs were female.

That's how Yaebi's problem was as bad as it is. Humobs were extremely rare to find but were notorious to most mobs. Yaebi already knew that people he ran into already met a humob before and treated him like a girl.

Yaebi shared the cavern with a few other humobs. These ones were girls obviously but despite living in the same place for years on end, not even they believed he was a boy. All of this caused him to cry silently in the darkness. He was alone, going through life being treated like something he was not. These girls were not dimwitted but still assumed what everyone else did.

These were his friends and he loved them, but they treated him like a sister. A younger sister in fact (Being the youngest of them all)! The only one who did believe him was Cupa. She was a nice friend who always had Yaebi's back. But only when she was around.

All of these feelings spilled out of Yaebi all at once and he started crying in the dark. You're such a wimp, he thought to himself, you're being a total girl. The young teen tried to silence his whimpering, afraid of attracting unwanted attention. I might as well take a shower. He stumbled over to a spring of falling water, ten feet to his right. The Zombie boy moved under the heavy stream and continued to crouch, hanging his head low while his green hair fell over his eyes. The warm water calmed down for a while. Setting his hat aside, Yaebi let the flowing water mask his tears. This was not his first breakdown. Trying to forget about all the depressing stuff going on in his life, Yaebi couldn't stop thinking how much he wanted to escape. Not, suicide, no, but to escape the dungeons that held him captive, and to break through to the over world. But he was scared. He knew the overworld was no place for a Zombie. He was afraid of being burned alive by the monster curse. Even at night, hell ran loose. Iron Golems would patrol every inch of the forests and humans would stalk the landscape. Once his Humob friend, Skelry, brought her recovering boyfriend down into the cavern. This boy was being treated for UV burns from the sun. Yaebi watched this young man suffer tremendous pain. It was hard to think if he wasn't so smart and had not jumped into a nearby lake. Yaebi sympathized with Skelry but at least she had someone. Yaebi knew relationships would never work out for him being as he was. It never helped when his friends brought a guy to him. It would make him cringe once he found out that boy had a crush on him. Why do they not believe me, maybe I haven't tried convincing them in a while.

Yaebi knew he considered all the options for convincing them and none were good. The worst option was exposing himself in front of all his friends. The option was horrible not only because the cavern was too dark to see anything, Yaebi was seriously self-conscious. He was embarrassed of what it looked like and knew his genitalia would freak them out. Standing there naked and weak sent shivers up his spine just thinking about it. He hardly undressed while he was showering.

Yaebi hardly moved, letting the flowing water run down his back. It didn't matter to him if his clothes were soggy-it happened all the time. The one thing that he did want to keep dry was his Zombie Hat. It was a part of him in a way. He started fingering a fresh hole in his skin when suddenly he heard a shoveling noise. The scurrying of silverfish echoed throughout the cave. The shoveling obviously wasn't a miner. This noise however was load and grinding. At that moment a cave troll broke through the walls and batted the boy into the ceiling. The rampaging beast decided to pummel Yaebi since he was the only one around. Monster eggs exploded with confused silver fish that then began to attack Yaebi, tearing into his flesh. This is the end isn't it he thought in terror before he was knocked out. However it wasn't the end.

Yaebi had no idea how long he was out but when he woke up he found himself in a small wooden house with his sides bandaged up and a cast on his left arm. His vision was blurry but still allowed him to identify the area. The Zombie boy had no experience in the Overworld so he was a bit surprised to see things like wood and cobblestone. Where am I, he thought. A blinding light poured through a bay window, which caused his head to throb with pain. Why was the Overworld so bright? He shielded his eyes until he finally got used to the newfound light.

He heard dishes being washed behind him. Clutching his side, Yaebi turned around and noticed an older girl scrubbing a wooden bowl at a makeshift sink, focused on the task at hand. He noticed that the girl was pretty quiet. She looked two or three years older than him, and had auburn hair that hung in a pony-tail down her back. She was so interesting that he couldn't stop examining her. The strange girl raised the bowl to the light to admire her work. She then turned, arms crossed, towards Yaebi. The Zombie boy almost jumped when the girl looked directly at him. There was mix of stern and relief in her eyes. She was intimidating, and didn't look disgusted at the zombie boy. But she didn't look down on him for the stare she gave him was displeasure towards her work. He could tell because she looked at his many coverings. Why did she save me, he thought, even Golems wouldn't be so kind.

Yaebi was lost for words but tried to build up the courage to say thank you. Once he brought himself to speak the girl already began to leave for an errand.

"Stay put" she ordered the younger boy "those casts aren't cheap".

She left the house, leaving him all alone. Without hesitation, Yaebi examined his surroundings. Never in his life had he seen such a place. However mediocre the house seemed, it was hard to comprehend. On the walls, paintings of monsters and artists filled the room. In the kitchen, bowl of washed pots gave off the smell of mushrooms and good earth. Looking at his surroundings, Yaebi noticed that numerous medical tools scattered along the table. He already realized he was given medical attention, but from the looks of the tools, he hadn't expected himself to be in as bad of a condition. He wasn't so sure if it was his imagination but he thought he saw a few tools with blades. What on earth would she need blades for? How serious was his injuries? All these questions filled Yaebi's head all at once that he couldn't take it anymore; he had to go talk to that mysterious girl. But that would be a problem because as soon as he was about to get up, he realized his right arm was strapped to the side of the bed. He wouldn't be able to go anywhere. But he wasn't going to be stopped that easily. The harness was strapped on tight so the only option was to take it with him. Hauling what seemed to be a gernie, the boy stumbled out the door, and was immediately greeted by sunlight. He felt the harmful rays penetrate his skin and caused a sudden fiery pain. That brief moment caused him to take cover under the bed. Why do I think of these things, he thought. There was no turning back now. He started to come out slowly, into the sunlight. It wasn't as painful this time. In fact, the Zombie boy edged himself out of cover even faster. Yaebi even welcomed the warmth a little. It was a sensation he hadn't felt in a long time. Finally, he was out of the shade and back on his feet.

Squinting from the sunlight, Yaebi searched for the mysterious girl. It was hard to see anything. He wasn't used to this. He scanned the landscape until he saw a sparkling lake. The sun's rays glinted off its reflective surface. Not once in his life had he seen so much beauty. He was speechless. But he snapped out of it immediately and focused on the task at hand. He didn't want the girl to return while he was gone- that would look bad. She would probably be furious and wouldn't let him back in. Then what would he do about the gerny strapped to his arm. He couldn't haul it around forever. Not to mention how much it would hinder his hiding during the night. Even zombies had enemies.

Finally he saw her, fishing in the lake. From the looks of it she wasn't having much luck. But she looked determined to catch a fish, even if she had to stay here all night. So, thankfully, she wasn't going anywhere. Yaebi started thinking of how he should approach her. Even though there weren't many options due to the big hunk of fabric and metal, he still didn't want to make a bad first impression. As he stumbled on over, he started to notice some very appealing features of the girl. Everything about her seemed so angelic but at the same time wild. She wasn't even trying to look good for all he could tell. Yaebi knew this girl for hardly a second and he already seemed to have a crush on her. He paused, to admire the strange girl, that was now 4 feet away from him (he was really stealthy while dragging the gernie). That brief moment the girl turned around. She noticed and gave him a cold stare, that was enough to send him toppling onto the bed.

"S-sorry," he said trying not to stutter. "I just couldn't-"

"Didn't I tell you to stay put" she interrupted.

"But I- "

She sighed, obviously ignoring the boy

"Never mind I understand, I think"

Yaebi sighed in relief.

"But I'm not helping you carry that in. If you brought it out you can bring it back in."

He winced in pain, grabbing his arm. Heat pierced his skin, for the suns rays were already taking effect. His time was up.

"fine I'll take you inside boy" she responded after quickly noticing his pain.

Together, they hauled the gerny into the house. Without hesitation, the zombie boy was laid down and examined by the girl. She started patching him up in a quick manner. Afraid of the consequences of interrupting surgery, Yaebi stood still and looked at the ceiling. He had to do this for 30 painful minutes. As soon as she was done and turned to another job, Yaebi cautiously got up and tried to get her attention.

"Umm excuse me.."

"What is it," she responded, apparently annoyed.

" I just wanted to say thank you," Yaebi said.

"sure, no prob" immediately turning to her other job. This girl intimidated the hell out of him. But there was still something bugging Yaebi.

"How did you know I was a boy?" he blurted out.

Instead of answering with words, the girl looked at him not directly- but at his leg.

Looking down he saw huge gash up the side of his pants, exposing his thigh. He became severly embarrassed and covered the exposed skin. Nothing private was showing, but it was embarrassing none the less. He must have been blushing furiously. He looked at the girl and saw that she giggled a bit.

"Don't worry, it wasn't that"

Yaebi was relieved. But she wasn't done talking.

"At first I was having my doubts, but when I did a full body checkup, I was certain I knew your gender"

This was a bit unnerving to Yaebi but a doctor's got to do what a doctor's got to do. This caused an uncomfortable silence between the two. Trying to avoid the awkward situation, Yaebi noticed the girl looking outside. The sun was starting to set. What some may have considered beautiful before was now a sign of danger. Even a cave dweller like Yaebi knew the trouble when sunset came.

"You can stay the night," the girl assured him.

"Okay," he happily agreed.

But he had nowhere to go afterwards. He just met this girl but asking her now was as good a time as any.

"Um…can..I.."

"What?"

"Stay here?"

This caught her off guard but she didn't look angry. Yaebi saw that she was thinking hard on it.

"Fine, but you'll have to sleep in the basement."

Relieved, Yaebi thanked her and started to go downstairs.

"But I must warn you, I have my own personal mineshaft down there. It connects to a few dungeons so be careful. Then again, since you're a zombie you might run into one of your friends"

Usually, mineshafts made Yaebi a bit uneasy. Caves he was used to; Mineshafts were trouble. Some of the meanest, most fowl monsters lived in them-especially the cave spiders. The only friendly cave spider was But this girl had a point. Most mobs didn't attack him as much as they did other humans.

"And don't touch my chest"

He snickered at this, and this even made the girl start to giggle.

"Alright good night."

That night was the first time Yaebi ever slept in a bed. Usually he'd sleep on a slab of rock or once in a while, a mine track. He pulled the covers over his body. He could tell this bed wasn't something someone would want to sleep on but he was grateful none the less. It smelled like dead fish and stinkbugs. But trust me, he'd smelled worse. Usually he would only sleep when he was tired. In the cavern, no one could tell the difference between night and day since hardly any of the inhabitants had seen the surface world. Now, he knew what the surface looked like and what daytime and nighttime were. This world is strange, he thought. But that girl…she's… she's something else. That night he slept peacefully. The sounds of the night helped put him to sleep. The same sounds that put people on edge were the same ones he was used to. All the growls, hisses, and moans were comforting. It was just like home. It was the best sleep he'd had so far.

The Next Morning, he woke up on the floor. This wasn't an odd occurrence, because he would usually sleep on stone. Maybe, he was unconsciously driven to sleep there. For a long time, he had been used to sleeping on cold stone. Even when wearing the skimpy clothes he'd had forever, it was still considered a comfort. He was used to the cold, in fact he welcomed it. Life in a cave had made him to be that way.

"So", he said to himself, "this is what morning is."

Then, he started to smell something- food! Warm, fresh, delicious food. The smell was coming from upstairs, and damn did it smell good. Was it for him, he didn't know. All he knew was that he needed to check it out. After cautiously walking up the stairs, Yaebi peeked into the kitchen. Standing at the stove was the mysterious girl. She was cooking breakfast. She was a pretty good cook. The food looked amazing! Though he was still afraid to confront her. But despite his efforts at hiding, the girl noticed him within a matter of seconds. She sent a warm smile to the boy and gestured him over.

" Good morning," She said "Come here, sit with me."

Like an ocelot to a fish, the Zombie boy cautiously walked over to his host. While still trying not to draw attention to himself, he sat in a chair across from the girl and began to nom on some bread. Apparently, the girl was looking at him. Yaebi sat silently trying to avoid eye contact. But the girl would have none of that.

"Hey," she lectured "why are you so shy?"

He started to look up and shrugged. He returned to his bread once more.

"You know what, we haven't been properly introduced."

Only then, did he make eye contact.

"Let's start with you, what's your name."

He stopped munching on his bread.

"Yaebi," he answered.

"Huh, that's interesting"

He then built up enough courage to ask her a question.

"W-What's your name?" he asked.

"Shelby Catherine Aran," she announced in a matter- of- fact tone.

"Cool," uttered Yaebi in between bites.

When Yaebi didn't say anything more, the girl returned to cutting her pancakes.

Yaebi didn't feel like conversing at the moment. But I might as well, he thought. The pancakes he smelled would taste really good and he might as well ask for them. When he finally decided to look up he was greeted by a sight that made him jolt and nearly fall out of his chair. This caused Shelby to giggle softly. What he saw on her shoulder was something you hardly see with a human. It was a silverfish. A hostile mob that guarded strongholds. Silverfish were a menace, and here Yaebi saw the same creature perching on a girls shoulder like a domestic parrot. The boy regained his balance but couldn't stop staring at the creature in front of him.

"I see you've met Neptar, "Acknowledged Shelby still stifling a laugh.

"But… how .."

Yaebi couldn't take his eyes off Shelby. She was truly unique, and he only knew her for less than a day. But it wasn't just the pet silverfish- it was everything. The day he walked out onto the surface world for the first time, determined his fascination with this girl. And now here she was sitting down eating her breakfast, completely unfazed by the slithering creature perched on her shoulder. Carefully choosing his words (because he was starting to get irritated by his sudden pauses, even though they were caused by his nervous personality), he asked about Nepter.

"How come you have a silverfish as a pet?" questioned Yaebi, "Aren't they dangerous?"

Shelby replied willingly, since the Yaebi's silence must have been unnerving.

"Well," she continued "A few years ago, when I was exploring dungeons, I came upon a stronghold."

Yaebi heard about strongholds. They were better maintained than mineshafts, since (according to legends) the civilization that constructed the mines were a dying race that were running out of materials. Apparently, that race was hunted by a malevolent force that drove them into hiding. This was extremely interesting to the zombie boy. He returned immediately turned his attention toward Shelby's story.

"So I found the legendary End portal, but I didn't have any eyes of ender so I decided to turn back until I came upon something."

Yaebi was enjoying listening to her.

"It was baby silver fish," she narrated "And it was seriously wounded. I looked around for the cause of the injury, and since none was in sight I took the little creature into my arms and took him home with me. One thing lead to another and that's how I got a new friend."

Yaebi was in total awe. Shelby was just so fascinating. Here he was gaping at this mysterious heroine with a domesticated silverfish perched on her shoulder, intent on watching what his master was doing.

This girl kept getting weirder and weirder. There was more to her than meets the eye.


	2. Chapter 2

After finishing their meal, the two cleared their place and determined today's goal. Shelby decided it was time to go farming. The crops were fully grown and she was low on wheat. Yaebi was reluctant to be of assistance. More wheat equals more bread. But that wasn't the main reason he wanted to help her. As Shelby set Neptar aside she told him to guard the house. Yaebi couldn't help laughing seeing this little creature spin around in circles at his master's orders. Once they gathered their supplies and started to leave out the door, Yaebi stopped dead in his tracks. There was something he was more aware of than the girl. It was only a moment until Shelby realized he wasn't behind her.

Sensing an absence, Shelby looked behind her to see what the problem was. She looked at the zombie boy with concern, not yet understanding the problem. Yaebi just stood there, lowering his head, with his arms bent behind his back, trying to avoid her gaze. He didn't cry he was just a bit embarrassed. Then Yaebi's new "friend" instantly realized what was wrong.

"Oh yeah, that's right," she exclaimed "You're still harmed by the sun."

Yaebi sighed.

"I've got just the thing," Shelby announced, reaching into a nearby chest. After finding what she was looking for, she tossed it to Yaebi which he reluctantly caught. Examining the object, Yaebi saw what appeared to be a thick liquid in the small metal container. Yaebi looked at it with confusion.

"It's magma cream," Shelby noted, noticing the boy's confusion "it's used for fire resistance potions, but it should do just the trick."

Yaebi lifted his head and looked at the girl with a sense of gratitude and relief.

"Thank you."

Doing only what came naturally, he took a bit of the cream and smothered it all over his pure white skin (it's not racist it's just being descriptive). At first, the alien substance stung making the boy's skin burn a little. This caused him to cringe. But after a while, it started to adjust to his body and seemed change itself to the skin's conditions. It was actually quite comfortable. Yaebi was now reluctant to go outside.

Before exiting, Shelby grabbed two fishing rods.

"Don't forget, fishing is on the list."

After arriving at the river outside the house, the two cast their poles in and waited. Yaebi was having extreme trouble getting started, but after receiving a few helpful pointers from Shelby, he started to get the hang of it. _Crap,_ he thought, _she must think I'm an idiot, not knowing how to fish._ Living in a cave didn't provide many learning opportunities. No one ever considered him stupid and he certainly didn't want that to happen now- especially in front of a girl. From what Yaebi knew, fishing was a usually a sport where small group of family members or good friends. This made Yaebi think of who he would have done this with. The one person that he had established was his older brother Zambi. Zambi. Now that brought back memories.

Zambi was Yaebi's mean, antisocial brother. Zambi was always pushing his brother away whenever he wasn't bullying him. No matter how much Yaebi reached out to his brother, it only seemed to irritate him. Zambi was one of the only people Yaebi was comfortable around. This was not a strong feeling. Zambi always seemed to be devising something with enthusiasm. Despite the secrecy, Yaebi always found out and aimed to be a part of it, only to be forced away. Other cave dwellers agreed that Yaebi wasn't one to get grabby nor was he obstructive in anyway. This was true due to his timid nature. He was very cautious when approaching others. It's just that Zambi had always treated unfairly. This wasn't some teenage hormone response. Zambi made it pretty clear that he hated his little brother, ever since they knew each other. No matter how much Yaebi tried, Zambi rejected him. This lead to a life of sorrow for the zombie boy. But Zambi wasn't always antisocial which certainly didn't make things better. Once done with whatever type of project he was working on, Zambi would bear himself to the world and become an antagonistic douche to Yaebi. When no one was looking, Zambi would mercilessly bully his younger brother, making fun of him in many cruel ways. Zambi was one of the many causes of Yaebi's insecurity.

"No wonder everybody thinks you're a girl," he would taunt "why do you even bother trying to convince them."

Most of the time Yaebi endured this bullying without it being noticed, but when it was the girls backed him up. The encouragement he received from his friends helped a little, but it didn't change a thing. Zambi was always a jerk, and was forever a jerk. Maybe there is someone else, Yaebi would think, someone who would be a true brother. The fact that they were blood related wasn't the only reason Yaebi saw himself fishing with his brother. Maybe Zambi had his own problems. Maybe people saw him differently. Zambi was two and a half years older than Yaebi which made Yaebi think that his brother had more experience. Yaebi looked up to Zambi no matter what, but those feelings would fade.

All the while Yaebi didn't notice that he had a bite. He reeled it in quickly, reveling at what was on the other end. He may have been scrawny and malnutritioned but he didn't let his strength fail him when it came to this fish. After pulling with extreme force, he was finally able to drag his catch out of the water. He had to catch his breath for a while before gazing at his bounty. It was a good size and Shelby seemed to be impressed.

"Nice."

After a few tries, catching fish later became more of a routine. It wasn't easy and certainly wasn't a fast process, but it did provide some fruitful results. At one point, Yaebi saw a fish at least 5 feet away from where he was standing. He noticed that Shelby had her eyes on it too which confused Yaebi, seeing that the fish was right in front of them, mocking them. Just then, something in his head snapped and caused the boy to jump straight into the water and attack the fish. The fish was caught completely off guard as Yaebi gnashed his teeth into the succulent skin. What the hell, he thought, I'm not a dog. Shelby, witnessing the whole thing started to laugh uncontrollably.

"Yaebi what the, what the hell?!" she announced.

Yaebi started to blush so furiously it could've overpowered the magma cream. He must've been blushing as red as redstone.

"Heh heh, sorry."

After their twentieth fish or so, the two noticed the sun starting to set. And everyone knew the dangers of the night.

"Looks like it's time to harvest," Shelby said. "This shouldn't take long."

Yaebi happily obliged. By the looks of it, there wasn't much to do. After going to the tool shed, Yaebi noticed a lack of animals. At first, he pushed the thought a side but a few seconds later it hit him again. Don't people usually have livestock? After grabbing a hoe and a few seeds, Yaebi turned to Shelby to ask about the lack of animals.

"Don't humans usually have livestock?" he asked.

Shelby seemed to ponder this but responded immediately.

"Well, you see, when I built my house I made some pretty bad decisions. I killed off a lot of the animals in a matter of days, and didn't even think about breeding them."

Yaebi was starting to understand but there were other parts he was still confused about. She had like 5 cows that were in perfectly good condition.

"Why don't you start breeding them?"

Shelby looked surprised by what he asked.

"Do you know how much wheat it takes to get those suckers horny?" she said in response, looking at him with a face that said 'what's so hard to understand?'

"Uummmmmm."

"Not much," she said answering her own question.

"But that's tomorrow's job," she said with a smirk.

"Oh."

After finishing their wheat gathering, they finally returned to the house and unloaded. Everything was put away in its correct chest and stored for tomorrow. Neptar was delighted to see them both. Once they were finished, Yaebi looked outside. It was getting really dark, and he saw spiders fleeing from the shadows. Even a zombie like Yaebi wasn't exactly safe. He wanted to stay another night. He wanted to ask Shelby for another night. But how, he thought, I don't want to intrude. But seeing as though, outside wasn't much of a good refuge, asking wasn't such a bad idea. He just needed to build up the courage.

"Um, Shelby, can I, uh…" crap not the stuttering. "Can I stay another night?"

Expecting a negative answer, Yaebi braced himself. But surprisingly, Shelby was quite pleased.

"Sure," she responded.

Yaebi was relieved. But that wasn't all.

"In fact, it's very lonely out here and you're not such a bad guy," she continued "You know what you can stay here for as long as you like."

Those last words rocked Yaebi's world. This girl was allowing him to live with her and share her house with him, he was lost for words. He immediately leaped over the table and hugged this girl, catching her off guard. Now he knew his face was as red as redstone.

"Thank you," he said into her shoulder.

He immediately dashed downstairs and onto the bed.

"Just make sure you do something about those pants." Shelby hollered down.

"Alright," he replied. He'd almost completely forgotten. They would have to wait until tomorrow. Oh man this was actually happening! He could hardly contain his excitement, he buried his face in his pillow. Notch, bless her soul. Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you!


	3. Chapter 3

The next morning, Yaebi awoke full of content. For it was the first day of having a true home. He still couldn't believe that someone offered him a home, let alone a girl. Last night was probably the happiest moment of Yaebi's life. He couldn't wait to go upstairs and greet his new roommate. What were they going to do today? Yet, despite living around them, Yaebi still had a hard time talking to girls. However, he was soft spoken and didn't speak much at all. That helped a little but today he felt like being a little more open. After getting dressed, Yaebi trudged up the stairs to be greeted by Neptar. The little silverfish seemed very excited to see him.

"Hey there Neptar," Yaebi chided as he pat the creature's head. Neptar was obviously enjoying the attention he was being given. Once Neptar scurried off, Yaebi decided it was time to greet Shelby and get some breakfast. Whatever she was cooking smelled pretty darn good. As he walked into the kitchen, Shelby smiled at him from the table.

"Hey Yaebi!" greeted Shelby getting up from her breakfast.

"Hey Shelby," Yaebi responded happy to see her. He briefly sniffed the air. He welcomed the great aroma.

"Whatever you're cooking smells delicious," Yaebi said complimenting her.

"Thanks," she said "my parents were better, they could make amazing things."

Yaebi couldn't imagine anything better than what he was smelling. Her parents must've been something. Then again, they could've been Notch and Ez for all he knew.

"Well so can you," Yaebi replied.

"Aw thanks but I'm not THAT good," said Shelby.

After finishing their breakfast, they decided to yet again, plan todays activities. Since it was mentioned earlier, it was determined that they would breed the cows today. Although Shelby said it wasn't much, Yaebi still didn't know how much wheat the cows needed to get "happy". Thankfully, she answered that question immediately. "Just a handful". And luckily, the wheat they collected from yesterday was just enough to breed a horde. Just before exiting the house Shelby stopped him.

"Hey I need to tell you something," she announced.

Yaebi froze, still very shy.

"Remember last night I told you I wanted you to do something about your pants," she asked. "Well those aren't gonna cut it."

He'd almost forgot about the condition his pants were in. He looked down and saw that the large cut up the front was looking right back at him. This made him once again blush. They weren't as bad as before because last night he was able to sew some of it together. Honestly he wasn't very good.

"Well what do you suppose we should do," questioned Shelby.

Yaebi, unsure of what to say, just shrugged. Why was talking to girls so damn hard? He should've learned by now, he would think. Thankfully, his friend had a solution.

"It's ok, as soon as I get those stitched up I'll give you something else to where" she said while leaving him outside her room. Another set of pants? He sure hoped it wasn't one of hers. Looking like a girl already was bad enough, he sure as Nether didn't want to dress like one. Shelby soon returned with another set of pants which she handed to the zombie boy. Yaebi examined them, and was surprised to find out they weren't feminine at all. He was quite reluctant.

"Are these…yours?"

"Nah," Shelby responded "a few months ago a guy named Steve came here seeking refuge or something."

Steve. Now why did seem like he knew that name before. Yaebi recalled hearing about an ancient prophecy that involved someone named Steve. His memory was sketchy. However the story went it didn't matter right now. Though there was one thing Yaebi was skeptical about: how did she get the pants? As far as Yaebi knew, Shelby CERTAINLY wasn't the type of girl to do "unmentionable" things. He was positive. Never the less, he was still afraid to ask her how she got the pants. Luckily he didn't have to. She answered it for him. It was always as if she knew what he was thinking.

"It was part of some luggage he brought and must've left behind."

That was a relief. He was still without a doubt certain that Shelby was a good person. So without further ado, Yaebi stripped himself of his tattered pair and began to pull on the new pair. Shelby of course, turned her back for Yaebi. It was nice to know she wasn't looking and yet he still felt uncomfortable. Honestly she couldn't be looking. Could she, he thought. He just shrugged the feeling off and proceeded in fit himself into the pair of pants. Once he had finished he examined how they looked. Not bad, he thought. They were almost as comfortable as his original pair. He was also reluctant to see no gash up the side. It was also a good fit.

"Time for business," Shelby concluded.

Before leaving , the two remembered to equip themselves, especially Yaebi who had to cover himself in magma cream. This stuff was amazing. Then something occurred to him: what if we run out? Unless he adapted to the sun's rays, magma cream was a necessity. Thankfully, there appeared to be a chest full of this stuff, all of it in stacks of 64. And unless they did run out, he was willing to travel with Shelby to the Nether to get more. It was ironic really- going to one of the hottest places just to prevent sunburn.

Once they were at the cow's stables the pair continued to start the breeding. Yaebi cautiously reached over the fence and handed them the wheat. It was annoying to be this cautious. Come on, he thought, it's just a freakin cow, what can it do. Yet he didn't like how they looked at him. But no matter how unnerving it was, Yaebi decided to keep it to himself and continued to feed the cows, trying not to let Shelby look at him. Once he had fed one cow, it went off to do its own thing so Yaebi went on to the next one which seemed to be nursing a calf. This was weird since there were originally five cows and none of them were infants.

"Fast isn't it." said Shelby.

After that was done the two headed inside and decided to discuss tomorrow's activity. The following conversation they had was short lived. Today seemed a little disappointing besides the fact that he was wearing good pants (the other ones were better though). He wished he wasn't so antisocial. It was always Shelby that started the conversations. And frankly, he was okay with that. And apparently Shelby was in the mood for one. The two sat down at the table and began to converse. As usual Shelby started.

"Hey," stated "are you zombies- diseased."

This seemed to confuse Yaebi.

"Huh."

"You know, infected humans that only have one desire- to eat other human flesh."

Yaebi pondered this.

"Oh," he exclaimed, realizing what she was talking about "well actually no."

This was a huge misconception among many. It didn't offend Yaebi one bit. In fact he found it kind of funny. Zombies were just born this way. They were another creature all on their own. Sure they were considered "monsters" but they were never anything before that. However, that didn't apply to most villagers. Villagers were prone to infection from zombies. They would become infected like stereotypical zombies, and would spread the disease. This depressed Yaebi. Villagers were some of the kindest souls anyone could meet. He should know, they came through caves every once in awhile. And every time they did, Yaebi's depression would leave him and be replaced with immense happiness. The villager,like everyone else,still thought that he was a girl. But despite what they thought about him, Yaebi couldn't help but love them. They were as good of friends as the other humobs that lived with him. The good amount of the villagers themselves were humobs. And like most humobs, they were female. And the ones that were humobs were the kindest. They were dear to him. Yaebi couldn't help thinking that they shouldn't trust him. He would never harm another, let alone a villager. But he was a zombie, and being one endangered the lives of the villagers. How could they trust him? How could after decades of sieges laying waste to defenseless villages, could these people have the audacity to treat him as one of their own. The most likely reason for why they were as kind as they were was because his hair was the color of emeralds. He could hurt them all if he wanted to. And what if he did? What if he brought harm to these gentle souls? Every time he thought about this it brought tears to his eyes. And apparently, it was happening right now, in front of Shelby.

"Yaebi?" said Shelby trying to get his attention.

"Wh-what?" he replied, snapping out of it.

"Are you alright," she said obviously concerned. "You just spaced out for a moment."

"Y- yeah I'm fine," he responded knowing that she noticed the tears.

"Is this a touchy subject," she asked "you know, the infection?"

Shelby scooted closer to him, probably concerned. Somehow, he felt more comfortable.

Yaebi shrugged but assured her that he was alright.

"Well, kind of touchy."

"Oh, sorry," she said slowly scooting away.

"No, no you're alright," he reassured her "I was just having a flashback."

Yaebi didn't want to give Shelby the wrong idea. He was glad someone was interested in what he had to say.

"Yaebi"

"What?"

"Have you ever wanted to be, you know, a girl?"

Yaebi was completely shocked by this question. Of course not. There was no reason he would want to be one. He was what he was. And frankly, he was ok with that. The question didn't offend him. At no point did he ever want to be one.

"Not really!" he said, alarmed.

"I was just joking," Shelby snickered

Then from out of nowhere, the two heard a long howling noise. This took Shelby's attention.

"What the hell," Said Shelby.

The two grabbed their torches and went out back which was not fully lit. With torches lit they scoped the underbrush. The two continued to look and listen to anything. Just then from out of the blue, Yaebi spotted something, coming out from under the birch tree. It was none other than a scared wolf looking back at him. He focused the light towards the strange creature which looked back with pleading eyes. A few seconds later Shelby also noticed the wolf and joined Yaebi in examining this new visitor.

"Heh, looks like you,"joked Shelby nudging him in the arm.

"Yaebi snickered a little. He then realized that he had some bones on him from yesterday. Shelby gave him the bones for bonemeal. But these ones were left over . But now was the time to make use of theml. He knew exactly what he was going to do: He was going to get a new pet for his friend. He had heard how useful dogs were-and how they made great pets. Of course Neptar was a great pet, but he couldn't defend the two. A wolf could do just that and be there as a friend. And besides, leaving this wolf alone wasn't an option for Yaebi. It wasn't in his nature to let things suffer. But wondered how to do it. Taming a wolf. Doing what came naturally, he cautiously reached towards the wolf, bone in hand, waiting for a response. The wolf's expression then went from fear to confusion as it saw the bones Yaebi was holding. As Yaebi reached further, the wolf inched forward and tilted its head. As Yaebi reached further the wolf quickly took the bone in its mouth and began to gnaw vigorously. With the way it was going through the bone, it seemed as if they would need at least seven to satisfy this monster. But it only took two for them to create a new pet. Shelby went into the kitchen and brought out an orange collar with the name "Boga" etched onto the tag. She presented it to Yaebi who was also pleased with the name.

"Boga huh, I like that."

The new dog barked in approval. Then they both laughed.

"Well then Boga it is." Shelby declared.

"Here boy" chanted Yaebi to their new friend.

Boga trotted along happily into their home. He was something that both of them could share. Yaebi was definitely willing to share his what he had with Shelby. After all, she did give him a home to live in. She was proven to be a true friend. And without a doubt, Yaebi trusted her.


	4. Chapter 4

The hours that followed couldn't have been more peaceful. That was saying something, due to the fact that Yaebi lived in a cave. This was also unusual since a dog like Boga would make a habit of barking. Yet, despite this, the dog seemed pretty mellow. Boga spent most of his time lying down, legs splayed out across the oak wood floor with Neptar cuddling up next to him. It was as if their new friend had overcome the pain he was enduring and had decided the only way to overcome the pain was to ignore it (in case you're wondering, the pain was emanating from an arrow in the thigh, most likely from a skeleton). The night was, without any other way to describe it, quiet. Yaebi could tell this was unnerving to Shelby, but it was quite the opposite for him. The quiet nights were the best nights, according to Yaebi. For Yaebi, the quiet nights made it just like home. It was as if the mobs outside were polite enough to maintain silence.

The silence was ended by a light tapping on the glass panes. It was coming from outside. Apparently, the absence of noise was now ended. This apparently relieved Shelby, who was sorting stuff in her chest at the moment. She was probably used to the noise since mobs must've roamed everywhere.

"Well I'm gonna go hit the hay," Shelby announced "see ya Yaebi."

"Goodnight," he called out.

As soon as Shelby left, Yaebi was left alone with only Boga and the continuing silence. It was peaceful, he had to admit. Just then the light tapping continued. Yaebi went into the kitchen to see what was up. It appeared to be coming from outside. Someone was throwing rocks at the window. Yaebi had no choice but to take Boga by the collar and explore what was now outback. Stepping outside, Yaebi listened and waited for anything. The tapping had stopped and after five minutes the silence started to become unnerving to Yaebi. There wasn't a creature noticeable within the thick black night except for two or three enderman gathering their own essentials When Yaebi looked them in the eyes, instead of responding with utter violence, they shot him a look of disgust. Well, that was the price of being part human, but what was throwing those rocks.

"Hello," uttered Yaebi "is anyone out there."

What a stupid question, Yaebi thought, there's no way anyone's going to respond to that.

Suddenly, a timid figure appeared from the shadows. What Yaebi saw was surprising and heart warming. Out of the shadows came none other than his old friend Cupa, Cupa the creeper. Cupa had beautiful orange hair that spilled out of her creeper hoodie. She also had a pair of stunning sunset colored eyes that just lit up your world. On her legs she just wore long socks, the same color as her hoodie.

"Cupa!" yelled Yaebi rushing forward and tackling Cupa with a death hug that caught his friend off guard and threw her off balance. Boga also joined in on the excitement, licking the bewildered girl's face. Yaebi continued to hug his friend. This type of behavior wasn't usual. Usually he was a lot more timid. But he didn't care and neither did Boga. Cupa seemed to be extremely happy as well.

"Yaebi, what the Nether," she exclaimed.

"Sorry."

Once Yaebi gained his footing it took him some time to help up Cupa who was enjoying the attention she was receiving from Boga. That dog would not stop licking.

"Sorry, he's new."

"Are you kidding, I love dogs!"

Then, Cupa's eyes lit up,

"You don't have any cats do you?" she asked fearfully.

"Nah," said Yaebi.

"Oh good, you know I am scared to death of those things."

"I am well aware."

In case you were wondering, Cupa, like other creepers, is extremely afraid of cats. No one knows why but that's how creepers are.

"Good. Besides I've been looking all over for you!"

"You have?"

The two exchanged in small talk. Then again they had quite a lot to talk about. Talking with friends was the best. Yaebi told his friend about Shelby and how nice she was. He told her about how he was living here with Shelby and how they were doing. But Cupa also had some news.

"By the way Yaebi, I was able to convince the others that you aren't a girl."

"Well that's nice to hear," he said "But why did you come looking for me?"

"Well you see, that's the problem."

Yaebi was confused. "What's the problem?"

There was only silence that passed for a while which was interrupted by Cupa

"It's Zambi."

As if Yaebi couldn't be even more confused. What trouble could've come from his own big brother.

"What about Zambi?"

"Turns out, he was plotting something behind our backs," Cupa continued "apparently, he plans to take Minecraftia by force!"

This was a total shock to Yaebi. He knew his brother was mean, but not bent on control.

"Wait why?!" he asked frantically.

Cupa just shrugged "Who knows, but he said he's coming for you as well."

Why him? Yaebi was a great brother as far as he knew. No matter how cruel Zambi was, Yaebi almost always forgave him. He didn't do anything, that he could remember being spiteful towards Zambi. And now here he was listening to how his brother was coming to kill him. It was inconceivable.

"Why me, I didn't do anything!"

"Well that's not how he see's it and now everyone's in danger even you."

"How does he plan to do this."

Cupa explained in a manner anyone could understand.

"Apparently, he started a small uprising and has gotten a lot of mobs to join him."

This alarmed Yaebi.

"You'll be seeing a lot more mobs spawning around your house," she continued "You and your girlfriend need to get the hell outa here fast."

The last lines were probably the most shocking.

"Wait, my girl wha..". Yaebi never considered Shelby a "girlfriend". He hardly admitted it, but ever since he'd seen her, Yaebi had a little bit of a crush on Shelby which kept growing by the minute. He acknowledged the beauty of the other girls in the cave, but Shelby was something. Shelby was different. She always was. And Yaebi secretly wanted to impress her. But he didn't want to think of this now! They were in danger. Cupa didn't appear to be lying and was never one to lie.

Cupa interrupted him.

"No time," she said "You'll also need this," she said pulling an object out of the shadows and handing it to Yaebi. It was a diamond sword that gave off a weird blue glow. Before Yaebi could ask what it was for, Cupa sped off, leaving him in the darkness with Boga.

"Well buddy, let's go to bed."

And just like that they went inside and returned to their beds. Despite what Shelby had ordered, Yaebi opened up the chest in the basement to store his diamond sword. He shielded his eyes in order to keep from seeing all of Shelby's belongings. After that, he had no choice but to go to bed. This was impossible. He could hardly rest knowing that he was being hunted. And what about Shelby? Surely she would be brought into this if he was to ever confront Zambi. And what would he do then. If there was one thing that Yaebi knew of his older brother, it was that he was incredibly smart. That was one of the reasons he looked up to Zambi. And now, Zambi was putting that brain of his to use: by starting a hunt for his brother. How could he stop this. Surely Zambi wouldn't give up. And what about Shelby. The girl could pretty much handle herself, but if what Cupa said was true, then they would need all the help they could get. He would never let anything happen to her. He felt the same way for his friends. And there was no way he would let any harm come to them.

Sorry this is shorter than usual, it's just that I forgot to add this to Chapter three. I also want to thank aman3003 and sifter for the inspiration.


	5. Chapter 5

As the days rolled by, Yaebi became more anxious. He couldn't shake the feeling that he was being watched. Shelby seemed none the wiser. It was as if Herobrine was lurking in the shadows, taunting him. But it wasn't Herobrine. No it was someone else. He knew because he saw the stalkers. They were ordinary hostile mobs apparently. It was hard for Yaebi to get a good look at them, but every once in awhile, when he was outside, he would catch a glimpse of some enderman or skeletons watching him and Shelby. This was rare, and when he looked back there was nothing. And all the while, there was one thought present in Yaebi's mind: They're coming. He didn't know when, but the hunt for him was getting closer. But how did he know he was in danger? Was Cupa pulling his tail, probably not. But why would Zambi go through all this trouble to get to him? Did he really hate Yaebi that much? Zambi was always a distant one. Yaebi wasn't so sure how much his brother despised him._Come on_, he thought, _no one is coming for you. You're safe and so is Shelby. _His thoughts didn't comfort him much. He needed the opportunity to take his mind off all this. Thankfully, Shelby provided just the opportunity for him. It was a warm afternoon.

"Hey Yaebi," yelled Shelby, "I've got another thing for us to do."

Yaebi sat down on the top of the roof looking off into space at that time until Shelby had gotten his attention with what she said.

"What is it?"

"House expansion," she responded "I figured that since this house belongs to both of us, you should help maintain it."

"Sure," he happily agreed. This was great. He definitely wanted to think about something else and surely wanted to help with the house. It sounded fun to help build the roof he slept under. However he slept in the basement. When it came to building it was all a matter of where to start. He first started out by building upwards with spruce planks: the same material as most of the exterior. Once that was done, he built across and started to make "rooms". He then decorated the outside with brick. Once that was done, the placing of materials was a breeze. He was really starting to have fun and he could see in Shelby's eyes that the feeling was mutual. He was pretty fast. He placed blocks at a speed incomprehensible. At the speed he was going, he could build a second story for this house in less than a day. He was given an array of materials, which he used to his advantage. The way building made him feel was ecstatic. After fully completing a living room, the sun started to set. _Darn,_ he thought, _I was so into it_. Nevertheless, Yaebi and his friend packed up their materials and went back inside. He couldn't wait to build tomorrow. He could make a habit of this. Someone could get addicted to building (inside joke).

"Well that was fun," said Shelby

"Agreed."

Afterwards they had dinner. It was well done steak. Once they were finished, Yaebi tossed some of the leftovers to Boga and Neptar, which the two of them shared. The two really seemed to get along. It would've been a surprise since Neptar was a type of hostile creature. Yaebi was still confused how such a kind loyal creature could be the same type that caused him to bleed vigorously. Living with Shelby provided him with a ton of surprises.

As the sun started to descend even further, the monsters started to emerge from the shadows. All the zombies and skeletons seemed to separate into separate groups, while all the creepers dispersed. This could all be viewed through the trees. By the looks of it, there were twice as many mobs compared to other nights. They definitely wouldn't be going outside tonight. The two both agreed it was time to go to bed. As Yaebi went under the covers in his bed, he started to imagine what he would build tomorrow. A chimney, a table set, a swimming pool, or even another bedroom for that matter. The possibilities were endless (not a sponsor).

His "daydreaming" was soon ended a loudbanging at the front door. Almost without hesitation, Yaebi slowly leapt from his bed and went to see what was going on. There was at least 3 zombies pounding their fists against the wooden door. Shelby had not yet come to see what was going on. _Maybe she's still asleep_, he wondered. Nonetheless, Yaebi continued to remain upstairs. By the looks of it, the zombies were already doing massive damage. Another minute and they would have that door clean off. For some reason, something told him to take action. He grabbed a random stick from the chest downstairs and headed out the back door. It was much quieter on the other side of the building. He could hardly hear the other zombies. _Now how should I do this_, he thought, _do I throw the stick or what?_ Before he could think any harder, he was suddenly attacked from from behind. He was caught completely off guard and was unsure of what to do. The unseen attacker grasped him tightly, putting one hand on Yaebi's shoulder and the other one around his neck. Yaebi was petrified. Time was short and he needed an idea. Suffocating, Yaebi's only idea was to repel the attacker immediately. Fortunately, he was able to slip out of his enemy's grasp and go on the offensive. He had no clue why but he was. He kicked the side of the leg, bringing the attacker to its knees before putting his stick to the throat, hoping for it to be a convincing sword. Apparently it was. Taking a good look, Yaebi realized it was an Enderman due to the fact that it was his height when on its knees. Yaebi had suddenly forgotten all about the zombies and began asking questions. From the sound of the enderman's voice, it was just as scared as Yaebi.

"Why are you doing this," Yaebi demanded.

"He sent us," the enderman gasped "He told us to look."

"Who, who did!"

"Zambi!" yelled the enderman "our master."

So what Cupa said was true. Zambi was coming for him. But if he was correct, then why would Zambi waste his time on a brother he wanted nothing to do with. It didn't make any sense. Yaebi continued the interrogation. He could tell from the breathing that the enderman was trying to relax itself but was failing to do so. The intruder seemed to be afraid to struggle. The stick must have been a pretty convincing sword.

"How did you find us?"

"The boss just told us to find a girl with emerald green hair."

A girl with green hair? _Ok Zambi, now you've gone too far_, Yaebi thought. They were in serious trouble now. They knew what he looked like and by now they had his location. He threatened the enderman to leave.

"Tell Zambi, to never come near this house or this biome," he continued.

Then the enderman looked back with a devilish grin that sent a wave of terror down the boy's spine. He shouldn't have said that.

"Like nether I will."

In a flash of purple light, the intruder was gone. Well that's not good. _Now I'm in trouble_, he thought. Now they knew where he was. Where Shelby was. After pondering what was to come, he decided it was time to go inside. The Zombies had already broke down the door but hadn't stepped foot inside. Shelby and animals were still sound asleep. How could he get to sleep after what just happened? Not only did he take a stand for himself, he also realized that he and Shelby actually were being hunted. He would have to tell her tomorrow about the situation. He had only hoped that life on the surface would be a peaceful one. That dream was now under attack.

Sorry it isn't as long as other chapters, I have problems getting on the computer. Remember what Lama Su from Star Wars II said to Obi Wan? Probably not. _If you need more it will take more time_._  
_


	6. Chapter 6

The next morning was hard to wake up to. Yaebi was surprised he got to sleep at all. With what happened last night, it was hard to steady his heartbeat. But more importantly, what was he going to tell Shelby? She seemed like a tough girl, but he didn't know how she would take the news. She must realize that she would be caught in the middle. That was a thought Yaebi could not bear. What if they had to move? That thought wasn't comfortable to think about either. Zambi was surely sending wave after wave of monsters across the land. One unforgettable characteristic of Zambi was that even though he did things begrudgingly, once he started something he was impossible to stop. It was hard for Yaebi to comprehend at first, but he knew his brother well. He had over time. But this was the time to toughen up and tell Shelby what was happening. It was for both their safety. That was the number one thought present in Yaebi's mind. The safety for Shelby was now dear to his heart. So he had no other choice but to approach the girl at the dinner table. She, however, seemed quite content to see Yaebi.

"Hey Yaebi!"

"Oh, hey Shelby"

_Come on_, he thought, _you can do this_. He started to stutter.

"Um, I need to tell you something."

"Well, ok, go ahead."

"Um, uh,"

_Dammit, why was it so hard for him to talk_? Thankfully Shelby was pretty patient. Though she gave the boy a look of concern. It was nice to know she cared.

"What is it?"

"Well, I don't know how else to say this without sounding weird," he continued, "but we're being hunted."

Shelby then gave him a look of confusion this time.

"Are you serious?"

"I know, it's crazy, but with what Cupa told me, and the enderman attack…"

"Wait, enderman? Cupa?" she interrupted.

It took some time but Yaebi was able to explain everything. Well, almost. It required telling his friend the long story of how he grew up with other humobs in a cave. This was very personal information, but he was willing to open up to Shelby. It was, in fact, for her safety anyways. He went off telling her about his good friends Cupa and Andr, details on how he lived. This was some important information however. He couldn't go on an entire monologue about his life story. He only hoped that after he was done explaining, that she wouldn't see him any differently. More importantly, would she believe him. The fact that humobs existed was hard to grasp. It was nonetheless stranger when it turned out that one of them threatened very lifestyle. After Yaebi was done explaining, Shelby looked him dead on. The look she gave him made him a little overjoyed: it was a look of trust.

"If what you say is true, then we must work fast," she responded.

_That's a relief_, he thought. He was glad she believed a lick of what he was saying. After finishing breakfast, the two went down to the basement. Yaebi was lucky he chose the right day to be neat. Usually stuff was left out, all over the floor.

"Why are we down here," he asked.

"Because," she replied, "I have something to show you."

Those last words made her produce a grin. She wandered over to one of the far corners of the room and proceeded to take down two blocks revealing a lever. _That's strange_, Yaebi thought. He'd thought he had already known everything about his room. Well apparently not. Once activated, two sets of rock on the wall shifted and were immediately spread apart. What Yaebi saw surprised him. The new opening revealed a room of approximately the same size. The walls, like that of the original, were made of stone. The room was devoid of anything, except for a frame of black rock. Filling the inside of the frame was a strange purple substance. Then Yaebi suddenly realized what he was looking at. This strange piece of work was none other than a portal.

"How come I never knew about this?"

"Can't have you getting into trouble."

"Good point."

The boy saw no reason to argue. What he had to do now was simple. Once they went through the portal, this new "world" would provide them with a new home. Well that's what Yaebi assumed. Without much hesitation he stepped through the purple light. What greeted him on the other side was anything but pleasant. It was hard to take in the first glimpse. After recovering, Yaebi took in his surroundings. This was the worst place of all. He'd seen crumbling mineshafts but this- this was hell. He was in total shock as Shelby came in afterwards. The view didn't seem to have the same effect on Shelby as it did on Yaebi. Dotting the landscape were skittish, yet muscular, humanoids with hog faces and rotten skin. In the distance he could see some sort of building made out of a dark material. Most of the landscape was covered by an ocean of boiling lava. And above that ocean were strange looking beasts that reminded Yaebi of large floating jellyfish.

"What is this place?!" Yaebi asked.

"Welcome to hell buddy," Shelby said completely unfazed, "Or as most call it, the Nether."

The Nether? He'd heard of this before. This place was just awful. Not only did the ash filled air burn, this place was nowhere near hospitable. She expected them to live in place like this. Yaebi would rather take his chances with Zambi's army than be here.

"You expect us to live here?" he asked frantically.

"Here? Hell no."

She pointed at one of the strange light sources on the ceiling.

"I planned ahead."

At first Yaebi was confused. What did she mean by, "Planned ahead". It didn't make much sense, but neither did Shelby's nature. Therefore, he didn't ask. Then it hit him like a block of brick. Whatever was up there was probably needed for what she had planned. That, however, was a problem. The strange material was high above the ground. Not only that, it didn't seem that there was any way to get to the light source. This was problematic.

"How do you suppose we get up there?" he asked.

Shelby tossed him two stacks of cobblestone.

"I'm right behind you," she said.

Yaebi ended up taking a long hike up a spiraling mountain that reached the top of the Nether. The netherrack (after Shelby gave him a brief description of the place) was immensely hot. After a few minutes he finally came to the same height as the glowstone. The strange rock was at least several meters away. And with that, he started to make a thin, yet stable, bridge out of the cobblestone he was provided with. Shelby however stayed right by the edge. After he was half way there, something started to bug him: Shelby wasn't coming along.

"Why aren't you doing this?" Yaebi yelled.

"Because the Ghasts won't attack you," she responded.

That's right. From what Shelby had told him, Ghasts could see over 100 blocks in front of themselves. They fired on sight, so they would've attacked Shelby. That, however, didn't apply to Yaebi. He was part mob. Therefore, other mobs didn't attack him. Well that was partly true. He could see why he was doing this instead of Shelby. It wasn't as if Shelby was trying to put his life in danger. Without further ado, Yaebi continued to build the bridge. Once he arrived at his destination, he noticed that the glowstone he was examining was sharp and crystal like. Despite this, Yaebi continued to pummel it. This must've been the roughest material Yaebi had ever encountered. Nevertheless, he continued to pound the rock to rubble. It was extremely painful. It was as if multiple shards of glass were piercing his skin. It stung a lot. But he couldn't quit. He couldn't let Zambi win. The pain was worth it. But after the first rock, he started to get used to the feeling of punching solid material. After a while, he was able to gather forty sets of glowstone dust. Everything was going great. That was until a ghast noticed him. Yaebi gulped in fear, as the ghast wasn't so content to see him. The creature started to fume in rage. It wasn't a pretty sight, really. The zombie boy figured he had gathered enough dust. He had no idea what they were going to use it for but that didn't matter right now. Right now, he was in serious danger. The ghast started to open its mouth, which was seeping with liquid fire. A few more meters, and Yaebi was screwed. _Time to go_, he thought. Yaebi darted across the bridge. If what Shelby said was true, that thing would set him ablaze. Shelby waited for him on the other side. The ghast started to fire projectiles towards the boy. The explosions helped propel him forward. After a long sequence of running he was finally able to lose the attention of the ghast. _Maybe it's just territorial_, he thought. After a few more seconds he finally thought he was safe. He was wrong. Before he could get to the other side, something attacked him. Something with a core hotter than the sun. A magma cube. It was a small one, but it was nonetheless vicious. The little monster attacked his face. Before Shelby was able to come to his assistance, Yaebi was already able to fling the creature over the side. He was soon finally able to get to the other side where a hopeful Shelby was waiting.

"So," she asked "How was it."

"It was hell," he said winking at her. That was a new thing. He never winked.

After journeying down the mountain side, they returned to the portal- in a reign of fire that is. Sounds weird, but Shelby managed to piss off a pigman and send a whole pack after them. They were luckily able to get through the portal just in time.

"Well, what do you think," Shelby said laughing.

"That," Yaebi responded, "was Hell."

That night the two started to create something unique. It was built in the same room as the portal and was approximately the same size. The two friends continued to talk while building. It was quite relaxing really. As Shelby fetched a bucket of water, Yaebi followed. Shelby started to tell the boy stories of Notch.

"When he created this world, it's said that Notch created a "dream world", a place for all to live in peace."

"Really," Yaebi said with fascination.

"Yes, but it's said that once created this world was created it was faulty. Notch became disappointed and cast it aside, continuing the world we live in today."

Was this where they were going to live? This dream world. Could it really be something of reality? Yaebi couldn't wait to find out.

"So is this where we're going?" He asked.

Shelby looked him in the eyes and shrugged. "I dunno, some guy told me once I built this I'd find another place."

What they built was the same height and width as the Nether portal. The sides consisted of glowstone, whereas the corners were filled with obsidian. Shelby then spilled the bucket all over the bottom of the creation. A split second afterwards, the frame was filled with a blue light. It turned out it was a portal. A portal to another world most likely.

"How come you believed me," Yaebi asked "you know about, being hunted."

"Because, I realized we were when I was attacked two nights ago," she answered, "I didn't tell you for some odd reason, but the monsters that attacked said 'all hail Zambi',"

Well that was convenient. Before they could step foot through the door, a crashing noise could be heard from upstairs._ They're here_, he thought. Skeletons and zombies could be seen from the staircase. It was perfect timing, as the two had already finished the portal.

"Where are they?"

"They must be downstairs."

The two friends looked at each other.

"Times up."

And with that they leapt into the portal, unsure of what to expect. It took some time, but what awaited them on the other side was just amazing. The two landed face plant into some grass that gave off a bluish tint. Yaebi took in his surroundings with utter amazement. Everywhere he looked, floating islands surrounded them. Even the ground they walked on was a floating island. Strange parthenons were also present. Even large flying whales grazed about. Yaebi was astonished. This would be their new home. They would start from scratch, building "from the ground up". And better, he would do it with Shelby.

"Where are we?" he asked.

"The Aether."

"Hallelujah," said Yaebi.

Hope you enjoyed guys. I am still working on more. But it would really be helpful to check out my other stories, especially the SCP foundation ones. Cya.


	7. Chapter 7

Life in the Aether was the best above all types of lifestyles. It was nothing but prosperous and peaceful up here in this dimension. The Aether was beyond beautiful. Whatever animal lived in the overworld lived up here, except looked and acted differently. Sheepuffs and phygs flourished here like their overworld counterparts. However, the two had heard rumors of it being a hostile paradise. That was only partially true. Zephyrs scouted the land looking for something to blast away with their windy breath. Thankfully, in this part of the Aether, that was most of the problem. Sure there would be a cockatrice every once in awhile, but it would be taken care of quite easily. Despite the random dangers, it was a paradise here in the Aether (kind of like _Columbia_ in Bioshock Infinite). It was less dangerous than the surface of Minecraftia somehow, but that didn't apply to the Nighttime. Both Shelby and Yaebi were vulnerable once the sunset on the floating islands. This was because Zephyrs became more aggressive than before and evolved into something much more terrifying. These nocturnal counterparts were referred to as tempests, the dark form of a zephyr. These monsters would emerge from the shadows and patrol the darkness searching for something to shoot at. The first day was obviously the hardest, seeing as how they had to build a house. Some of the materials they used to build their new home were actually from the Aether. They gave the house a unique look. Luckily, they were able to finish a good portion of the house before nightfall. It wasn't as sophisticated as their original home, but better than night did come, Yaebi could tell that Shelby was disappointed with the the structure. It was a small space that consisted of only one room. Not their best work.

"Don't worry, we'll work on it tomorrow," Yaebi assured her.

"I guess."

And with that, they went to bed. Some of you may be thinking that's not possible. Don't beds usually explode in other dimensions? Well yes and no. You see, in Minecraftia you can only sleep in the home dimension. Well this place is a paradise, so it's technically considered a home (they still explode in-game). The first couple of minutes they spent that night were used looking up at the glass ceiling. That was one thing Shelby was proud of when making this house. The two had a lot to think about which made harder to get to sleep. Though it was a beautiful view, enhanced by the moonlight. Yaebi couldn't help but talk as the two lay across from each other.

"I wonder what we'll build tomorrow."

"Hmmmmm," mumbled a tired Shelby.

"A whole new world, where we can build a new home."

"Mmmm."

"I mean-"

"Yaebi may you please try to get some sleep."

Yaebi felt a little embarrassed for monologuing. He decided to respect Shelby's wish and started to rest his head. But after that, Shelby mentioned something.

"Yaebi?"  
"What," he yawned.

"You know you're an amazing friend and all, but I want you to know that we can't sleep next to each other. I'm ok with being in the same room and all but I'm not yet comfortable with being this close to you."

That boosted Yaebi's spirits in a way he couldn't explain. Sure she just admitted that she wasn't fully comfortable around him, but the words "amazing friend" came directly from her mouth. Of course he still got what Shelby was trying to say. She wouldn't allow having the beds close which Yaebi didn't mind at all. The two beds were separated by five blocks of space. That gave them enough space to talk. But if it still made her uncomfortable, Yaebi would surely construct a different bedroom for himself. Boy he sure had a lot to think on. Thankfully, that didn't stop him one bit at getting to sleep. That night went uninterrupted since the area they lived in was peaceful. That morning, Yaebi woke to the sound of building. Without thinking of breakfast, Yaebi went outside to find Shelby building another part of the house. She just looked at him and smiled.

"Sorry to wake you, it's just that this house is too damn ugly," Shelby explained.

"No problem."

Yaebi then decided to join her. She handed him a stack of holystone (the Aether equivalent of cobblestone) and a steak. With that, he started to build both the walls and floor. Their work went uninterrupted until noon when Zephyrs started to rise. Only a few were in range and those that were typically ignored them seeing as how Yaebi was a mob. That's how the two developed a sort of symbiotic relationship. When, Yaebi was around, Shelby was protected from most mobs that could smell Yaebi around her. Shelby however was a much more experienced fighter than Yaebi and kept him safe when the mobs were in a rage state. This meant that they ignored everything and attacked on sight. This friendship had its benefits. After constructing the building to their likings, the two friends sat down and watched the aerwhales drift by. The two were amazed at the sight as the sun started to set beyond the skyline. The beauty of it all caused Yaebi's eyes to tear up. But did I forget to mention that both Boga and Neptar were there. The two pets were thankfully brought back before the portal could be destroyed. Thanks to Yaebi, the two remembered to retrieve their great companions. Not that Shelby would've forgotten, in fact, she loved them as much as Yaebi did. The two kept their pets close by. This was a totally different environment, and they couldn't bear the very idea of losing one of the animals to a cliffside. With all these floating islands, the pets would have to remain indoors.

"You know, we should really put up some fences," suggested Shelby.

"I think so too."

The sun inevitably started to set, so they once again, had to go inside. Yaebi had constructed another bedroom above the former one. This was to give Shelby some space. After moving his bed upstairs there was nothing to do but sleep. It was, however, early evening so Yaebi didn't have it in him yet. He started to sort things in his personal chest. He put the overworld supplies on the right side of the chest, the Aether supplies on the left, and what was ever from the Nether on the bottom. Thankfully he remembered to bring a few things back from their overworld home, especially the sword that Cupa gave him. He still wondered what it did though. It must've done something. Yaebi held the sword in his hands and started to wonder what it was capable of. Swords didn't glow like that in reality. Did it shoot fireballs. Would it make him five times faster? _Ok now you're being ridiculous_, thought Yaebi. He swung it back and forth to see what would happen. Nothing. Absolutely nothing. Before he put it away, Yaebi heard a light tapping on the windowsill. Cupa? After finishing the last of the sorting in his chests, Yaebi went outside- bringing the sword with him. Once outside it was completely silent. It was just like that one night-

_Bam!_

He was tackled to the ground and had the sword knocked out of his hands. Before he could get a good look at the attacker's face he was forced up against the wall. Out of all the thoughts going through his head, the one that was dominant was whoever this person is is extremely agile. That was a weird thought. That's when he saw her face. A girl that was worried but determined. But Yaebi saw more. It was another humob. Though he couldn't tell what kind, he could never mistake one of them. Even with her hands on his shoulders, and her back turned to the light, he could still see the details of her clothing. She wore some kind of green mini skirt with light green feathers. On her head she wore some kind of baseball cap- like hat that was colored yellow. What kind of mob was she supposed to be? Luckily she loosened her grip on the boy and finally let go. This was done reluctantly.

"Why the Nether did you do that," Yaebi asked frantically.

"How else was I supposed to get your attention."

Yaebi became frustrated. He could list a thousand things this girl could have done. But he wasn't in the mood right now. All he wanted to do was get some sleep. Though maybe this girl was friendly though. Maybe he should listen.

"Sorry anyways," she muttered.

"Fine, I guess."

The two swapped stories and quickly introduced each other.

"So, what's your name," Yaebi asked.

"Kairi. Kairi the Cockatrice."

A cockatrice? So these guys did thrive up in the Aether. Humobs, however rare, must've established themselves in any dimension. In fact he had heard of a ghast girl named Charlotte a blaze named Blazette. It was definitely possible for there to be some humobs up in the Aether. Kairi seemed to be an interesting one. If she wasn't tackling you she was quite the chatterbox. The situation was very similar to Yaebi's prior encounter with Cupa. Only this time, Yaebi was the one being tackled. But that didn't matter to him. Besides, he was enjoying the conversation he was having with her. That was, until she explained why she was here.

"I need to show you something."

"Now? In the middle of the night."

"Of course, now let's go!"

"Alright fine," he moaned.

Kairi lept from island to island in a gliding matter, each jump getting farther from the house. Yaebi had no choice but to follow. He, however, had much more trouble getting across. Kairi seemed to be flying. That was one of the aspects of being a humob. Whatever abilities your parents had, you possesed. Cupa, being a creeper, could make loud hissing noises (but thank Notch, could not explode). Andr, the offspring of enderman, could teleport to any place over a certain radius. Yaebi, however, was immune to poisons and most potions. It was a bit of a let down, but his aspects were better than none. But they didn't help him now. He was barely keeping up with Kairi, who was leaping with ease. Her movement was a mixture of both grace and clumsiness. Yaebi certainly had to watch his step. No amount of armor could protect him from falling from this height. There was a chain of small islands leading up to another main island. It was a long trip and would need a lot of precautions. But Kairi didn't mind. She was perfectly at ease. Lucky. Once they were finally on the other side they were finally able to rest. After a few seconds or so, they heard something behind the hill. It sounded like the barking of orders from a loud individual. Kairi showed him what was going on. What Yaebi saw blew his mind. There was an army of at least 25 skeletons. There weapons glowed in the moonlight- the same glow as Yaebi's sword. They were all lined up and waiting for orders from what appeared to be an angry Zombie Pigman. What were they doing in the Aether? And why all in the same place? Unless- Zambi's men? No, it was impossible. How could they have gotten all the way up here. And why? From what Yaebi had learned, Zambi was taking over Minecraftia. Obviously, with all the land he was conquering, his little brother shouldn't have meant anything to him. Apparently, he didn't like the concept of losing prey. Despite how wrong Zambi was, Yaebi didn't plan on getting in his way. All that mattered to him, at the moment, was the safety of him and his friends. He would have to take action, whether he liked it or not. But by the looks of it, there weren't very many skeletons, and with the help of Shelby, they could be taken care of easily. They were still a threat nonetheless.

"Why do their weapons glow" he asked.

"Enchanted, duh."

Enchanted? So that's what it was. He wondered how they did it. It must have made their weapons stronger than they usually were. That was going to be a problem. That was, if they were looking for him. And they probably were.

"What are we going to do."

Kairi shrugged.

"Do what you did to that fish I guess."

To the fish? _Wait, she was watching me_, he thought. Maybe the others were. No matter, he had to warn Shelby. The two were not safe while an army was at its wits to find him. The only way she could be safe was either if they both left or, even worse, she betrayed him. He couldn't bear the thought of being cast aside by a friend he trusted with his life. After she had given him a new home and lead them to this new paradise, he had felt in debt to her. She had already proven herself to be loyal. Without a doubt, he trusted her. But how far was she willing to go?


	8. Chapter 8

After examining the mob army from a distance, Yaebi decided he had seen enough. He had to warn Shelby as soon as possible. He imagined a battle taking place right outside their door. When it came to getting down, Kairi was intent on helping the boy. Taking him by the hand, the girl cockatrice glided down to main island. Yaebi figured she must have noticed his struggle with keeping up. She was quite helpful. This was a new sensation for Yaebi. Not the hand thing, that was just a bit awkward. It was taking flight. The sensation of flight was that of sheer happiness. He looked on in amazement as they passed tempests and sky whales on their way home. Yaebi's imagination ran wild with images of beautiful landscapes, all from birds eye view. He could see it all. The feeling was short lived as they prepared for their descent. The landing, sadly, was not as fun as the flight. There was no crash involved. But Yaebi would say otherwise. The zombie boy was propelled downwards onto a patch of golden grass. The ground underneath him imploded with dust as he landed. Wiping the dirt off his face, he looked up at Kairi who shrugged.

"Sorry about that."

And with that she soared off. Strange girl, she was. despite the rough landing Yaebi wondered if he would be doing that again anytime soon. It was truly riveting. Well he was in the Aether, meaning he was probably more capable of flight than ever. He started to imagine ways he could do this. He had almost forgotten about the army. But that's when it hit him. He couldn't think about this now while their livelihoods were at stake. He slowly crept into the house making sure not to alert Shelby or the animals. Apparently, no monsters had placed down traps- not yet at least. He slipped into bed waiting for himself to become drowsy. His demands were not met. He had way too much to think about. It took him at least two hours to get to sleep. The next morning he awoke to the all too familiar smell of pancakes. Shelby was cooking again. He strode into the kitchen and greeted Shelby with a compliment he thought he would never give anyone before.

"You look extremely beautiful this morning."

"What?"

_Stupid, stupid, stupid. She hates me now_, he thought. He bashed his forehead at the prospect of what he just said. He refused to look at Shelby. Shelby just smiled seeing him like this.

"Hey don't beat yourself up about it," she assured him, "it's ok for you to say that to me."

Yaebi turned his vision towards her. What a relief. As usual the two ate breakfast together and talked about the day's activities. It was quite a relief to know that Shelby took the compliment positively.

"You know I was thinking that maybe we could go exploring one of those dunge-"

_Crash_. An arrow zipped through a window causing glass to shatter all over the place.

"What the Nether-"

_Oh Notch, they're here_. Yaebi quickly looked out the window to see who fired the projectile. What he saw caused a shiver to go up his spine. It was the skeleton army- they had found the house finally. It was too soon. He hadn't even told Shelby what was going on yet. There was very little time now.

"Shelby, we need to get out of here."

"Why."

"Look there's no time to explain!"

Without hesitation, she peered out the window to see what Yaebi was worried about. It was an entire army of skeletons marching over the horizon.

"Crap they followed us."

A storm of arrows and fire came crashing through all the windows breaking all of the glass fixtures they had. Thankfully, there weren't many. The two rushed out the door after grabbing their weapons. It was the first time Shelby noticed the sword in Yaebi's possession. Her weapon however was no different.

"Where'd that come from," she asked.

"A friend."

"One of mine?"

Yaebi shook his head. Then something started to bother him immediately. It wasn't the skeletons or their enchanted weapons. It was Shelby. He still wondered: for how how long was she willing to put up with this? For how long would she be intent on his safety? He had to ask. He was worried however about the answer.

"Shelby are you willing to keep helping me," he asked, "I'm a hazard to both our safety, don't you wanna kick me out."

Shelby contemplated this._ Oh Notch_, he thought, _she has_. But that's when she told him the most remarkable thing.

"Yaebi, you're a good friend and I don't plan on giving you up anytime soon," she explained, "plus if there's one thing I know about conquerors, they don't just stop at one person."

This boosted his spirits immensely. He knew she was a true friend. They rushed out of the house basically guns a blazing as skeletons surrounded their home and prepared to fire. The first volley of arrows Shelby paried with her sword as Yaebi took cover behind a rock. It wasn't cowardice at all. As it passed, Yaebi got right back up and charged the nearest bone bag dicing him in half. It was then he realized he was actually pretty good at this. It wasn't just the sword. He was in fact, pretty agile. However, this was no time to marvel at his power. He had to keep fighting. As the two friends kept their ground, the skeleton numbers dwindled. The chances of accepting defeat were extremely low. Was this all that they had to offer. Yaebi had to admit the skeletons fought valiantly and were tough even without the weapons. The only reason they weren't burning was the fact that each one of them was wearing at least one bit of white leather armor. After finishing the last of the bone bags off (zombies are called fleshbags, skeletons are bone bags) the two gave each other a high five. Shelby was impressed with their work.

"Wow Yaebi you're quite limber."

"We'll thanks."

Before they could wrap up complimenting each other, at least 20 more skeletons showed up over the hillside, their golden armor glistening in the morning sunlight. These ones looked a lot more tougher than the previous ones. Without any agreement whatsoever, they both charged the army once more. They were welcomed by the butt of their swords. Yes these were not gunners. These ones indeed had iron swords which were sharpened to a point. The blows Shelby and Yaebi dealt did little damage. These ones were impossible to stop. Before a retreat was in order, some guy dash over the hillside and started to bash the skeletons repeatedly with such haste. Though the sight of him was very much a blur, Yaebi could make out what the young man was wearing. His clothing consisted of a silver tunic and grey shorts. Once he slowed down, he noticed a warrior's braid flailing about. He also had a sandy blonde crew cut. Before they could join in, the young man had already finished them off.

"We'll that was fun," Chanted the older boy, "how 'bout you guys."

Shelby gaped in awe at this new friend. That made Yaebi extremely uncomfortable.

"That was freakin Awesome!" Shelby exclaimed.

The next thing he knew, Shelby was flirting with the new boy. This was very intense for Yaebi. He was starting to develop feelings for Shelby. He infact wanted to build up enough trust to ask her out. But now some muscle brained surfer- was probably going to change the odds now. Maybe he was over thinking this whole thing. He wasn't the boss of Shelby. He admitted he was a little iratated by the fact this guy was more physically fit. He had been malnourished for most of his life. But he was alright. At least the guy wasn't a total jerk. But that's when Yaebi noticed something he could never forget. The young man was a humob.

"What mob are you supposed to be," asked Yaebi interrupting one of the mans boastings.

Those words froze the man in place. It was almost as if he was afraid of what the younger boy said.

"How'd ya know?"

"I just do."

"Lemme guess, you're one too."

"Yup."

"Zombie, right."

"Correct."

"Nice."

The positive interaction between the two made Yaebi realise that the guy wasn't so bad after all. He was, in fact, quite the conversationalist. He called himself Zack. Zack the Valkyrie. Everything was going great until they got down to business. Thunder started to churn.

"Shelby we need to go," Zack exclaimed, "there's no time to explain."

"Wait, why?"

"Now what did I just say?"

Zack turned away and took flight with Shelby flapping his massive wings. Yes, I said wings. That's what his type of mob had.

"Yaebi, you stay here."

"Why?" He asked.

"Look it's the business of the queen herself."

Shelby looked confused herself. And what was he talking about? The queen? There were no queens or kings in Minecraftia as far as he knew. Then again, this was the Aether. There might have just been a ruler here. A queen perhaps. Before he could ask again the two left Yaebi alone. Their figures darted into a strange type of strange building cushioned by clouds. Well at least he knew where they were. But what now? Neither him nor Shelby had agreed to this. It felt as if a friend was stolen from him. And all he was told was to stay put. Would he? This was all very strange for Yaebi. He was actually starting to miss Shelby already. But why? It made no sense for him to worry about someone like this. _Maybe they'll come back soon, _he thought, _they will I know it_. He just waited there on the side of a cliff. First an hour passed by. Then two hours. Pretty soon nightfall came and Yaebi was sitting alone looking up at the sky. He didn't move a muscle. Only once midnight came did Yaebi rest on the soft blue green grass. The next day yeilded no positive results. They still hadn't returned yet. What the nether was taking so long. This was never normal. When he wasn't waiting or feeding the animals, which he remembered to do, he daydreamed and thought about his times in the caverns. That brought back memories.

"Come on Andr, where are we going," Yaebi moaned.

" In a minute Yaebi!"

It was a dark cavern with a high ceiling. Yaebi still couldn't see much but over time he learned to live with it. It was a few years ago whe he was 12. The zombie boy was being dragged along by none other than his great friend Andr. Andr was a sweet friend. Like him she was a shy humob. She however was much more shy but once someone got to know her, she would really open up. She was a true angel: both inside and out. Yaebi surely saw how great she was. He hoped she would realize this.

"We're almost there," she exclaimed,"now come on."

A few more meters and Yaebi saw what she was talking about. Off of a ravine, there was a water slide that was flowing at tremendous speeds. It came to a drop at a calm pool. This was definitely worth the the walk. Only one problem though.

"Is it safe," he questioned Andr.

"Of coarse, I checked this morning replied Andr stripping down to her underwear. It was a common sight.

"Ok that's go to kn-"

_Splash!_

Before he knew it, Andr was down the water slide screaming with pleasure. Gosh that looked like fun. Once all the way down, Andr waited for Yaebi.

"Come on you can do it girl."

That word still bothered him. No matter Yaebi was more than willing to go. The only problem was how he looked. As much as he wanted to spread the truth, he couldn't freak his friend out. That didn't mean try to look like a girl. It just meant not to reveal his chest. He just removed his pants. Simple enough he thought. The ride down was amazing. The drops and turns caused him to jolt. The exitement was exchanged with tranquility. Andr waded towards him splashing playfully. Yaebi returned the splashing. After awhile they started to laugh. It all ended in tackling each other. This was never akward. Those were the best of memories.

Yaebi continued to stare at the building up in the higher clouds. Then Yaebi got iritated.

"Alright it's been a day and a half, what the nether is going on!"

It was then that a flapping noise went off behind Yaebi. Zack? It was about damn time. He looked behind himself. Nothing. It was until he looked up that he was face with a joyous face. It was none other than Kairi. Yaebi had just realized how great a person she was. She was kind of like Cupa in a lot of ways. Always sweet, and kind. Now she was giving him one of her special greetings.

"Hi."

"Oh hi Kairi."

"Watchya out here for?"

Yaebi sighed. "Some guy named Zack took Shelby and told me to wait here."

Kairi gave him a concerned look. Something told him this wasn't the first time this had happened.

"Zach huh? I hope it's not the Valkyrie."

"Yeah it is why?"

Jairo's eyes widened.

"You need to get your girlfriend out of there!"

"Wait, girlfriend?!"

"Oh come on man wake up already. Don't you realize it: you like Shelby."

This startled the boy. Sure he liked her. I mean who wouldn't right? Oh Notch he really did like her. He had to admit it now.

"Then what are we protecting her from."

Kairi shook her head. "I'm not sure if you already know this but Zambi's armies are already here. That said they've already established themselves. This means they already have allies, especially the valkyries."

"The valkyries?!"

"Yes, and Zack has been known to drag people down with him."

This was certainly some bad news for Yaebi. And, Zack mentioned something about a queen. Was he just making things up?

"Where is the queen in all of this."

Kairi started telling Yaebi how the Aether was associated with Dungeons. These Dungeons harbored strong creatures known as "bosses." These bosses, or leaders, resided here and were most of the times guarded by creatures of the same type. The valkyrie queen was one of those. She resides from the building that looks like the parthenon. This meant that Shelby was most likely being held up there against her will. If this was all true, Yaebi had no time to waste.

"We need to get up there," he demanded.

"I couldn't have said it better myself."

Without further discussion, Yaebi immediately took Kairi's hand. Only this time, she gave an uncomfortable look.

"You know next time you are gonna need a Moa."

Yaebi himself also felt a little awkward. It was the first time he grabbed a girls hand.

"Oh yeah, of course."

What was a moa?

_**Shelby point of view: 3rd person**_

Walking through tunnels was pretty boring. Not scary, just boring. Everywhere she looked another Valkyrie gave her the death stare. It was pretty dark, however the place was starting to lose its effect quickly. It didn't amuse her that she had to tail behind some muscle brained valkyrie carrying a torch and a map. Seriously. Though most girls would fall head over heels for this guy she didn't mind him at all. It had nothing to do with preference. It would take more than an extremely healthy body to get her attention. Thats what she thought anyways. Besides, she's the only one who knew the truth. She once had a great friend. He was a little more fit than this guy. His name was Adam (inspired by sky does minecraft, but not sky does minecraft). Adam always had a sense for adventure. He was always one to boost your confidence and your spirits. He was the perfect friend in fact. He was dear to Shelby. Living with him made Minecraftia seem a little less lonely. He always stuck around for Shelby. Shelby didn't admit it, but she had developed a crush on Adam. Though, sadly, she never got the chance to get close enough to him. Before she could protest, Adam had already left for the End. For days she waited for him. The days turned to months and her hopes turned into sorrow. Though she planned to keep it behind herself, she wouldn't let any other guys pass inspection. Yaebi however. Yaebi was different somehow. She pondered this for awhile.

"We're here," announced Zack.

Shelby looked up and was met by two creepy looking Valkyries standing side by side blocking their path.

"Evening brother," they said in unison.

"What's up sis," he responded.

The left one scowled at him.

"Have you done as we asked?"

"Sure got that girl that's been hanging out with that humob."

"What?" Shelby answered.

"Fool we asked for that abomination itself, not the girl," one of them scolded.

"abomination? I thought I was-"

Zach was stabbed in the abdomen. The sight of it made Shelby become nauseous. She almost vomited at what she just saw. Why would they do that to their own brother? It was sickening. Zack grasped the sword in his belly, and looked up with eyes full of betrayal.

"Why."

The young man vanished and pretty soon Shelby was left alone with these two psychopaths. The two women grabbed her forearms and pulled her away.

"You're coming with us bitch," one of them muttered.

And with that she was pulled away, confused about what just happened. What did they want with her? What did they want with Yaebi. She was afraid she just might find out sooner or later.

Sorry if my work has become a little bland in your opinion. I hope you guys have been enjoying this so far.


	9. Chapter 9

Yaebi and Kairi started traveling at tremendous speed. With each second the image of the building became larger. Soon it would be life size and they would be landing. Yaebi could see much more of the land than last time. The experience of flying was like no other. It was both scary yet somehow calming. It couldn't really be explained. Suddenly, the two were hit by an unknown object and crashed onto a patch of blue clouds. The sheer force they were hit with caused them to briefly lose their bearings. The object plummeted with them for some reason. It took a minute to recover but after a while the two checked out the other objects crash sight. It was none other than Zack who appeared to have a broken wing and a bad looking flesh wound. The sight was gruesome but this guy was a danger. Despite his state, Yaebi wasn't going to let this guy slip by.

"Where's Shelby," he demanded.

"Come on dude not now."

Yaebi was starting to get a little angry.

"I said where is she."

"I thought I told you to stay put."

That's when Kairi kicked him in the gut. This startled Yaebi and caused him to look up at Kairi since he was perching next to the young man. The look she gave was full of hate.

"That's for Molly." She yelled.

Yaebi had no idea what she was talking about and was afraid to ask. She did say this guy was trouble. Maybe Molly was one of those people who fell prey to him. Yaebi got down to eye level with the guy.

"Look I've got some regeneration extract at the house. Unless you have anything usefull to us, it's yours to earn."

He could tell that Zack was yearning for the needed help. Yaebi almost felt bad for the guy. But if he gave it over first there was no way of him helping them. Therefor, he pushed his thoughts for the Valkyrie aside.

" Now where's Shelby," he demanded.

"She's in the dungeon. Go up two flights of stairs then take a left."

Yaebi took the instructions carefully. The two then left the Valkyrie to fend for himself.

"What are you doing? You can't just leave me here."

"Yes we can," Kairi announced.

"What?!"

"Just stay put," Yaebi added.

Those last words made Yaebi smirk. But why did Kairi hate the guy so much. Maybe he wasn't just dangerous, he was a threat. Sure pain wasn't funny at all but when he looked into the mans eyes he saw no innocence. They then flew off towards the building. What awaited them was a mystery. Yaebi could here the young man swear at them. It took them quite awhile to gain altitude but it was all worth while. The view, as always, was beautiful. Note: Kairi does not have wings, but Zach does. After arriving at their destination, Yaebi was dropped off at the door step.

"I'll stick around if you need me."

"Thank you Kairi," Yaebi gladly replied, " you truly are a great friend and I'm glad to know you."

Kairi just smiled.

"Just go get your girl."

That still iritated Yaebi. But what he said was right. He did think of Kairi as an amazing friend. He couldn't imagine losing her. Yaebi looked at the doorway. Without further ado, he entered the mysterious cavern. As he ventured, it got much more darker. He however had to admit, it wasn't a bad piece of architecture. He had to place a few torches to get his bearings. Everywhere he looked, for some reason, all the Valkyries glared at him. It was quite uncomfortable, really. And with every step he took they got closer. Although he noticed, he had to press on. They were very hard to ignore. With every room he passed more of them showed. Now it started to get freaky. After finishing the two flights of stairs he must have had at least twenty five on his tail. It was really starting to bother him.

"Would you kindly stop following me?"

_What kind of a request was that_, he thought. All the Valkyries looked at one another and then at Yaebi.

"Surrender to the queen." One of them uttered.

On those last words all of those demented angels attacked him. He hardly had any time to respond. Before he knew it he was fighting at least 20 of these guys, all of them female. He dove and jumped away from multiple attacks. He was definitely much more agile than all of them. After dodging one valkyrie's attack he was able to strike two of them down. These guys were still tough. Before he knew it, all of them had fallen or ran. He couldn't have been that intimidating. Besides, when it all ended he would still be the same timid Yaebi that everyone knew. He didn't have a problem with that what so ever. After going to the right, Yaebi entered the largest chamber he had ever seen. Whoever designed this room had a lot of spare time. There was glowstone everywhere and a few pools of water. After marveling at the places beauty Yaebi noticed Shelby. He was overjoyed to see the girl but she was somehow restrained by two Valkyries. She was in horrible shape with one of her eyes bruised. This stunned the boy. His friend was obviously abused. Why would they do this. That's when he noticed a high throne. A top it sat a semi old yet extremely beautiful woman. She looked down on those around her. The queen. She looked upon all of them with old, calm eyes. She looked like a respectable figure. But that didn't matter right now. He could tell that Shelby was scared and whoever that woman was was in charge. That meant that she was the one who was taking Shelby captive. Yaebi had no choice but to stand up for her.

"Now who is this young girl," the queen asked.

Those questions were really starting to annoy him- a lot. In fact he was sick of them. But, while withholding his emotions, he decided to tell her the truth.

"Madam, I am a boy."

The woman looked puzzled.

"Hmph, I guess my eyes have been failing me these past few decades anyways."

_You could say that again_.

"No matter, why are you really here young man," she asked.

"I've come to get my friend back," he explained, "your soldier Zack took her for some reason because I'm a humob."

The queen's eyes widened at those last words. Perhaps he shouldn't have said that. The queen smirked.

"So it's you we want. Oh your friend has told us a lot about you," the queen remarked "we have a special hatred for your kind."

"But isn't your son one?"

"Yes, so what?"

Yaebi looked around the room.

"You guys do know that the one your working with is a humob, right?"

"Oh yes if I do recall, Zambi's your brother," the queen remarked, "shit he really hates you."

These Valkyries needed to watch their language.

"He's a humob, don't you hate him?"

"He's an opportunity," the queen explained.

That didn't make much sense.

"He's the only way we'll be able to conquer."

Yaebi realized these guys weren't all that good. They obviously wanted power. Maybe they were a threat as well. He was now willing to fight for Shelby after realizing how they were not going to reason with him.

"Listen, I came here for my friend and if I have to fight you for her so be it."

The two Valkyries behind him laughed. Yaebi looked back and saw a worried Shelby shaking her head. This was a big mistake. Even the queen was having trouble withholding her laughter. She was not as respectable now and a lot more arogant.

"Boy have you any idea what I've done?"

"No."

"I was a warrior who caused the extinction of the humobs."

_What?!_ Did she say extinction.

"You are unaware, your kind was flourishing until the power of the aether struck you down. Only your families stood in our way."

This was crazy.

"Why, would you do something like that," he asked frantically.

He couldn't believe what he was hearing. It was all a suprise to him yet he couldn't help feeling sorrow. He had now idea that humobs were a dying race. Of coarse, he assumed they were just random occurrences. But there was no way that the entire Aether could've been responsible for their demise. It must have been the order that they supported. There was no way to describe Yaebi's hatred for these people. They were the reason he never had any parents. He just knew it. The Valkyrie queen took a moment before answering his previous question. She stared him down with cold eyes that drove his anger. She was trying to iritate him.

"Why, because we could and you were insects to us," she scoffed referring to why she wiped them out, " you know how many I killed? 87. And it was fun. Your kind started to rise for no reason and we put you in your place. In fact I do recall squashing a few zombies who were protecting their baby. I left it alone and I think it isn't far."

"You monster!" Yelled Yaebi who was now at the verge of teers. All of the anger inside the boy was overflowing and had now caused him to snap. Without any hesitation whatsoever, Yaebi launched his sword across the room and into the head of the thrown. The blade barely missed the old hag. She smirked at the boys efforts. She was trying to get a rise out of him. It worked.

"Well if it's a fight you want then it's a fight you'll get."

She instructed her two cronies to release Shelby. He had no idea why but she said she wanted a fair fight.

"You aren't even worthy to fight me anyways," she scoffed.

That reminded Yaebi. He took a handful of Valkyrie loot and tossed it to the floor as the queen lowered herself. There must have been ten medallions among the junk. The queen looked at him with disgust.

"As you wish."

And with that they charged her. The queen did not show any sense of fear. In fact she was quite arogant. She moved out of the way of their blows. She blocked attack without breaking a sweat. The two tried their hardest to keep her from gaining the upper hand. She was quite the formidable foe. It was as if she already knew how they were going to attack.

"Come on, is that all you have to offer me," taunted, exhausting their anger. Yaebi slashed at her only resulting in his own harm as she dodged and struck him in the ribs. Only until Yaebi finally landed a blow on her shoulder did she fight visciously. She went on the offensive delivering staggering blows. Yaebi and Shelby somehow managed to keep at it. When all hope seemed lost Shelby, being observant, noticed a weak spot on her back.

"I'll draw her fire," Yaebi noted.

Yaebi started to run a circle around the demented woman which enabled her to rain lightning upon him. Taking advantage of the woman's newfound concentration, Shelby quickly bashed her back. The Valkyrie queen stumbled and tried to keep her balance. After a few seconds or so, she charged them, this time where the they could move out of the way. She did this multiple times until she gave out. Yaebi landed the final blow. That was when something suprising happened. The queen rose into the air with an alien light shining around her. An energy dispersed itself among the room.

"Thank you two. Thank you for giving me a warrior's death."

Yaebi shrugged.

"You obviously wanted to fight me."

"Ah but you see? That's my fatal flaw. I have been begging for an end. What I told you about the humobs was all a lie."

"Really?"

_Well that was reluctant_. Maybe he could respect her these last few seconds as he new she was dying.

"However we Valkyries still see you as abominations."

_Seriously_. What she was saying was uncalled for. Then, she looked to him and said the most remarkable thing.

"You truelly are a mighty warrior."

She finally left in a flash of light. Energy imploded throughout the the room making them lose their balance. After recovering both of the friends left leaving a flower at her resting place. Neither of them knew exactly what just happened or how they would get back home. They would find a way. Yaebi could tell that Shelby was happy to be out of there. He missed her and it could've been the same to her. She was shaking after what she went through.

"Thank you," she said.

And with that she tightly hugged him. This was a shock to the boy, but he liked it. He had no idea what those Valkyries did to her. He swore it would never happen again.

Before the two could get going they were ambushed. It was Zack- and he had a crazed look on his face. He wielded a block of TNT in his hand. The sight if him was startling. The last time he was seen, he was severely wounded. Now he stood before them, TNT in hand, not a scratch on him. He must've gotten to the regeneration extract. He didn't look too happy to be left behind.

"Hello there!"

He lit the destructive block and tossed it at them. Before they could react, the block exploded, fragments of holystone flying everywhere. It all happened so fast.

"No," he heard Shelby scream.

They were falling. Not off the island but out of the Aether itself. It was frightening for both of them. There was nothing Yaebi could do to save them. They started to fall at the most outrageous speeds. Air whistled past his ears. As he looked up the image of their home vanished. This was the end wasn't it. As he looked down he could finally make out an image of the overworld. He wasn't going to let it end this way. No way in the nether was Zack going to screw them over like this. A great idea reluctantly presented itself to Yaebi.

"Shelby catch!"

He tossed her something that changed this whole situation. It was one of the parachutes he snagged off of the Valkyries. It was miracle to find something like this off of a creature with wings. That didn't matter now since the timing was critical. Yaebi pulled out his own and waited for a clear image of the ground. What lay under them was an ocean. That was convenient. The two both activated their parachutes as they braced for impact. Yaebi should've known his was faulty. It only provided him 3 seconds as it tore itself apart. _Crap!_ He crashed into the waves. Then, it all went dark. He awoke to find a frantic Shelby pounding his chest with air. She hadn't yet noticed his eyes open.

"Come on Dammit wake up!"

Before he could protest or make her realize he was alive, she locked lips with him and shot air into his lungs. Was she doing this to me? He got up quickly to make her stop. He had to admit though, it was a different experience. One which he didn't understand.

"Thanks for saving my life," Shelby uttered,"thought I could do the same for you."

"Thanks."

Yaebi took in his surroundings. The beach, the cliffs, everything. Nothing was familiar. It was like nothing he'd ever seen before. The grass was an unearthly grey and the trees were a bright red with blotches of white covering them. And the animals were like something out of a story. Cows grazed off the strange grass, their infants following closely behind. However, they weren't the same type of cow he was familiar with. Their eyes were black and their hide was the same color as the trees.

"Where are we," Yaebi asked.

"Welcome to mushroom island."

This was all strange to Yaebi. He missed home. An island made of mushrooms was sure to hide them however. He was just glad to be with his best friend.


	10. Chapter 10

Every morning, the two woke up to the sound of the waves crashing on the beach. Sometimes it could've been the sound of a mooshroom. This went on for weeks. It was pretty lonely on this island. Sure, that applied to the rest of Minecraftia, but mushroom island was different. Yaebi was just glad that Shelby was there with him. Once they were up, the two trained after breakfast. That's right, trained. After that fight with the queen Valkyrie, Yaebi could tell his friend was partially impressed. That was when she decided that he needed a hobby. Therefor, their days were dominated by endless training. It was not like they could do anything else. There wasn't enough building space and they already constructed their house. Besides, they were able to set up their own training course. All of the basics were met. The two tried to harness their skill. Lets just say not all of it was fun. During swordplay, Yaebi always got knocked on his ass. Archery, however, produced satisfying results, yet he didn't have much interest in it. Skelry was definitely the best at it. But then there was knife throwing. That was something he very much excelled in. He realized he loved knife throwing. It wasn't something people usual paid any attention to. Yaebi didn't mind. When it came to throwing a sharp metal object, Yaebi was a marksman. After a long day of this exercise, Shelby sat next to Yaebi and talked. It had been nine days since they fell from the sky.

"Hey Yaebi," she gestured.

"Oh hey."

"You're getting pretty good."

"Thanks you're pretty good too."

Shelby started to talk more seriously now.

"Man I really miss the Aether."

"Same."

"That was our home, until Zack screwed it up."

Shelby looked rather depressed. Concerned, Yaebi edged closer to her. He tried not to make it awkward. She turned to him with warm eyes.

"I never told you about Adam did I."

Adam?

"Who's Adam?"

Shelby's eyes lit up in an instant. He could tell that she was remembering something wonderful.

"Adam was- an amazing friend."

Yaebi listened with facination. Though she did seem very excited to talk about this guy which made him a little uncomfortable.

"He always knew how to bring out the best in everyone," she continued, "he was loyal as well."

Shelby continued to talk about Adam and all the adventures she had with him. Yaebi paid close attention. Not that any of it mattered. Shelby was his friend and he was happy to listen to her. Besides, it made Shelby happy. Adam sounded like a nice guy. However, once Yaebi asked a certain question Shelby turned all depressed.

"What happened to him," he asked.

It took some time for her to answer. She wasn't crying however. She looked up and looked at him directly for awhile but eventually turned away.

"I don't know man," she answered,"he went looking for the end and never came back."

She was obviously was trying to hold back her emotions. Yaebi just realized something about Shelby. She really did care for this boy.

"So that's why you went looking for the end portal," Yaebi said.

"What do you mean," Shelby asked.

"I mean the place where you found Neptar."

Shelby's eyes widened.

"Oh crap they're still up there."

Yaebi just smiled.

"Don't worry I told Kairi to take care of them and bring them down if she can."

Shelby became puzzled. Come to think of it Yaebi had never talked about any of his friends before.

"We'll Kairi's one of my humob friends."

"You know I still don't know what humobs are," she stated.

Yaebi went on about humobs and what they were. Further on was when he started to talk about his past life. He talked about each of his friends and how terrific they were. He talked about each and every one of them as Shelby gave him her full attention. It was pretty great to talk about his old friends. He missed them. Though he knew that one day day, he would see them again. And the reunion would be spectacular. Yaebi never really understood what being a humob was all about. He knew that even though you were still 93% human, you were still a mob. All humobs are born of two mob parents. Usually they were considered the mutant offspring. These "offspring" were outcast by their species and by their families. He told her all this.

"Did you ever know your parents," asked Shelby.

This time Yaebi looked away. This had been a thought that Yaebi tried to avoid. At no time had he ever met his parents. It was really tough to talk about. Then again his real family was with the girls he lived with. They looked out for each other. It took some time to look her in the eyes which took some confidence.

"No," he answered trying to hold back his own emotions.

"Oh," she uttered, "then how do you know you are humob?"

That was a good question. Yaebi explained this to her. This was probably the longest he'd ever talked. When a humob's born they have clothes on that represent the mob they are. These clothes are not produced in the womb and only appear three weeks after birth. It is not yet known if the parents make them or not. Anyways, these clothes grow with the humob so they don't need to be gotten rid of. But one special aspect of humobs is their blood. One tenth of it is mob blood mixed with human blood. He explained this all to her and he could tell that she was getting a little confused. That's how he felt when Cupa told him. Humobs were extremely rare in Minecraftia. As far as he knew, there was one for each mob. Perhaps he lived with most of them considering he knew five at least. It was great to see Shelby fascinated. She even asked questions about all of them. Of coarse it got awkward when he told her about how they thought he was a girl. This was never a comfortable subject and now he was talking about it.

"I never did tell you this," Shelby implied,"but you do oddly look like a girl."

Yaebi frowned. That's what he was afraid of. But Shelby wasn't done.

"Then again you aren't exactly feminine."

This was good news.

"You know what I like you either way," she added.

His mind was blown. He couldn't believe what he just heard. She said she liked him. To any guy those words could be considered a blessing. Sure she didn't mean that she liked him the way he hoped but dammit it was something.

"Thanks I like you too."

Shelby gave him a warm smile. That might have been encouragement. Before they knew it the sun was setting. The two, as always, went inside. The dinner was mushroom stew. This was not going to be a habit though. Just because you're on mushroom island doesn't mean that's the only thing you ate. What neither of them got was that it was fresh and full of all the nutrients. What kind of cow produces soup from its utters. It was just better to ignor. There was a knock on the door. Yaebi got up to answer it.

"Now who could that be?" Shelby asked.

Yaebi had a hunch. He opened the door to be met with a death hug. It was none other than Kairi the Cockatrice. It was a pleasure to see her again.

"Hey Kairi," Yaebi announced.

"Nice seeing you again," Kairi answered.

"What are you doing here?"

"Your friends missed you."

After being released from the hug, Yaebi noticed Boga come out from behind the girl. However before he could find out where Neptar was, the playful silverfish leapt at Yaebi's face and started to tickle the boys cheeks. After this greeting the smaller of the companions switched to Shelby's right shoulder. The three started talk yet again. There were pleasant greetings between Shelby and Kairi. The two got along great.

"I also needed to check up on you," Kairi explained,"word is, Zack is now leading a group of Valkyries alongside Zambi."

This was a shock.

"Now the aether's under their command."

"Why would Zack team up with Zambi," asked Yaebi, "remember seeing him bleeding?"

Shelby knew what he was talking about. She watched it happen.

"I mean wouldn't he betray them after they considered him an abomination?"

"That's just the thing," Kairi continued, "without the queen influencing the others Zack was able to take control."

It didn't make much sense. The first time he saw Zack he helped them defeat a bunch of skeletons. Those were a group of conquerers sent to find him. Zambi would have to be pissed.

"On top of that," Kairi announced, "at least twelve biomes have been conquered by Zambi's men."

Yaebi gave a concerned look. This was getting worse. Pretty soon he might reach them.

"And worse both of them vowed to kill both of you."

He was affraid to ask how close they were to their location. But pretty soon Kairi left before he could ask. The room went completely silent. Did she leave out of fear? He worried for both of them. He was without a doubt willing to fight for his friends. But something was coming. He didn't know what. That night was one Yaebi would never forget. Not because they were in trouble though. He had known this for a while now. This time Shelby looked fearful.

"Yaebi what's happening?" Shelby asked.

The next day they trained as usual. Both tried to not talk about last night. Shelby hardly had any room for improvement. She already kicked ass. Yaebi seemed to be getting better at sword fighting yet he couldn't stay focused. Every time he looked at the ocean he imagined an entire army coming over the horizon. What would he do then. He would fight that's what. Maybe that's what all this training was about.

"Hey Yaebi!" Shelby announced.

"What is it."

"Care to join me on a little exercise?"

"Sure."

Whatever this was it was no little exercise. Some people would've called this parcour. This exercise was about jumping from mushroom to mushroom. It was extremely exhausting. These mushrooms ringed most of the island so the two ended up going in circles. Most of the time Shelby kept ahead of jumped from red mushroom to brown mushroom in barely a second. Yaebi tried to follow her example and eventually he could do it with ease. It was actually pretty fun. If this was done on stone however, it would have been much more painful. Luckily, the mushrooms were soft especially the brown ones. Another good aspect of the mushrooms was that they remained sturdy. After about five laps around the island they finally tired out. Well, actually, Yaebi had already gotten tired after the fourth one. He just kept going for Shelby's sake. After Shelby leapt off the red mound Yaebi nearly collapsed.

"Great workout eh, Yaebi?" Shelby gestured.

*pant* *pant* "sure."

"You know," she continued, "you're pretty fast for a zombie.

_I guess_, he thought, _it'll help_. He wondered how Shelby could be such strong spirit with everything around them being controlled. Maybe she had confidence in them. Maybe she thought someone else was going to start a war against Zambi's forces. She certainly wasn't ignorant. She was possibly the smartest person he knew. In fact, she technically was preparing them for what was to come. And he knew something was coming tonight.

Thanks for reading.


	11. Chapter 11

Yaebi awoke to the sound of explosions blasting his ears. The one noise no one wanted to ever hear. The next thing he heard was screaming.

"Yaebi!" The voice yelled.

As he opened his eyes, a nearby explosion sent a gust of dirt and debris his way. The incoming debris blinded him and the explosion knocked him over. As he got out of bed he stumbled over to his chest to grab his weapons. It was as if cannons were going off everywhere. He was able to navigate his way through the destruction with his vision obscured by the debris. With what he could make out, several fires lit his room and there were plenty of holes in the floor, walls, and the ceiling. What the nether was going on here? The sounds of explosions continued to test his hearing. Suddenly, he heard barking. Yaebi looked back and forth to find the source. It was quiet, but he certainly heard barking. He finally noticed Boga barking at him from a hole in the wall. Without hesitation Yaebi grabbed his tools and followed his companion outside. What awaited him was chaos. Everywhere he looked armed attackers were present, destroying the world around them. Among them was Shelby, fighting for her life. He quickly wiped the mud off his eyes to see more of the destruction. What had appeared to be random sources of light were towering flames. He couldn't tell what to do now. He had never seen anything like this. Once he exited his burning home he was soon flanked by two skeletons. With them were at least ten to fifteen zombies who encircled him. The skeletons looked at him with their empty eyes and quickly drew their bows. As they opened fire Yaebi was somehow able to deflect both their arrows. He didn't know how, but he did it. The power put into those shots was their undoing. The group of zombies, obviously disappointed to see him still standing, lunged at him putting him on the defensive. They were a furious bunch, clawing at him and attempting to pummel the boy. He knew these types of fighting styles. He was a zombie himself. If he remembered correctly those who were skilled enough eventually learned these moves. They were eventually able to get him on his back while they reached for his face. But he wouldn't let it end like this. Never. He kicked the top one off and attacked the other surrounding zombies. He grunted as he pushed them aside. After clear the space around him, he went on the offensive. Pretty soon he was severing limb from torso. The fleshbags numbers started to dwindle. But they refused to surrender. Once he only had the attention of five fleshbags, giving him some time, he scanned the landscape for awhile he witnessed the most glorious sight. Not only was Shelby fighting but so were Boga and Neptar. He had to join and fight alongside his friend. Besides, the odds weren't looking so good. With a single swing of his blade he slashed three of his attackers in half. He dashed across the battlefield dodging arrows and debris. One arrow struck him in the calf. He cried out in pain as it peirced his skin. A split second later and another struck him in almost the same spot. But no matter. He had to assist Shelby. From the looks of it she was struggling with a few of the skeletons shooting her. He was now twenty five feet away from his friend. He walked up to the nearest skeleton and cut it in half. The sound of his victim's war cry caught the attention of his friends attackers and even Shelby herself. He ran up to her and pretty soon he was fighting alongside her.

" 'bout time," she muttered.

"Sorry."

Everywhere they were flanked by both bonebags and fleshbags. Even a few creepers came to join the fun. The two just kept fighting the good fight. Together the two of them were unstoppable.

"We need to get to the docks," Shelby instructed.

The docks were a makeshift row of oak wood planks lined with wooden fences. They mostly served as a place to store boats. He never thought thought they would use it- until now. All he had to do was wait for an opening. After taking down five more fleshbags was the opportunity available.

"Now," he yelled.

The four (the pets included) dashed for the docks at incredible speeds. Within seconds they would be riding a boat. That was the goal right? As they neared the boats, a large jungle wood ship could be seen coming out from behind the island. That was the source of most of the fires and explosions. Aboard it he could see multiple troops of hostile mobs. Time was running short. The sound of more explosions going off got closer to them. He didn't have to look back to know that they were being fired upon. The two just kept running for it. He knew what they were doing. They were going to run away; find a new home. It was the only way. It was then he realized that he couldn't get attached to any home. Just a couple more feet...

_Bam!_

One of the cannons hit the deck and sent wood flying everywhere. The shock waves propelled the four of them off of the dock and into the water. The salty water seeped into his wounds. Not far from his position could he hear Shelby's muffled screams. He had to get to the boats. He rose up and gasped for air. The smell of salt water and smoke burned his nostrils. Where was Shelby though? He frantically looked around for his friend who was nowhere in sight. That's when he noticed Boga paddling around a wooden boat. The dog looked like it was panicking, but alright. Yaebi was very rusty when it came to swimming, but did what he could to stay afloat. He could hear bonebags shouting at him from a distance but they were already yards away. Pretty soon he was able to reach Boga. Using a remainder of his strength, he lifted dog onto the boat and climbed aboard himself. He could hear multiple enemies shouting at him from a distance.

"Stop right there!"

"I'll kill you!"

It was all excessive rambling for all he cared. He was too exhausted to find what they were saying. Pretty soon he would be far away from them. Once all of the shouting was out of range Yaebi could finally rest. But he became wide awake once he started checking his wounds. What he saw was frightening. His left side had a deep cut and was causing him to lose blood quickly. This was horrifying. He tried to cover it up but it just kept spilling out. Frantically trying to tie a bandage around his side, he felt something bump into his boat. He looked behind himself and saw another thing he never wanted to see: it Shelby knocked unconscious in her boat.

"Shelby!"

She didn't respond. Yaebi was panicking. Before he could do anything to save them he started to fade. No not now! He had to do something. Yet despite his efforts, his vision slowly went black. _I have...to...save..us_. The last thing he saw was a large dark object pass over them.

Yaebi awoke in a daze. He sat up immediately, scanning his environment. He was surrounded by strange men with tall heads and large noses. Taking a closer look he could tell they were wearing cloaks. What the heck was going on. It felt as if the power his mind was using was causing him to overheat. His brow was drenched in sweat. He was also breathing much faster than normal. He was confused. He took a look around. Despite the lack of pictures it appeared as if he was home. Every detail was in place and everything looked exactly as they left it.

"What are you guys doing in our house?"

"He's hallucinating," one of them whispered to his neighbor.

"What?"

"We need to tranquilize him. He might start going insane," replied the one holding a syringe.

"Wait, What?!"

Jab. _Dammit_. Once again he woke up without recalling falling asleep. Only this time it was a saltwater bath that got him up. He swore that stuff got in his mouth. As he coughed up sea water he was able to stand up. Where was he? How did he get here? These surroundings were unfamiliar to the boy, who was now getting a little bit uncomfortable. He wiped his face of the salty water and realized he was on a ship. Everywhere he looked those same strange men ran about tending to chores. There were even quite a few humans here and there. So he was alive. It was a relief to know he was still standing. But where was Shelby? As he started to walk he stumbled. The same place he was hit was now in extreme pain. He had to get to the nearest figure of authority. Well that's what his gut told him. He tried to keep weight off his leg by dragging it. _Who's in charge here_, he thought. Just suddenly, he saw a peculiar man with his back turned to Yaebi at the bow of the ship. The man's clothing appeared to consist of some type of cloak. He was dressed liked some type of assassin. That's the guy. After a while he was finally able to reach the man. He didn't see him coming across the deck even with the irritating sound of him dragging his foot present. He tapped the guy's shoulder.

"Uh excuse me but um.."

The man looked over his shoulder and into Yaebi's eyes. The older man gave him a warm smile before facing the boy.

"Well you must be the guy we picked up," the man concluded.

Yaebi shrugged in confusement.

"I guess."

The man just continued to smile.

"Are you a..uh..captain," Yaebi asked.

The older man laughed.

"Ha! Nah I just use this to get around."

"Well then are you in charge?"

"Why of course!"

Yaebi could barely stand any more. He could tell that he was still recovering. There were two thoughts present in his mind: 1. How long was this pain gonna last and 2. Where's Shelby.

"Excuse me but did you pick up a girl?"

"Be specific," the man corrected.

"Well her name is Shelby Catherine Aran and she's got auburn hair -"

The man laughed.

"Boy I was just joking," he exclaimed.

"Who are you," the zombie asked.

"The name's Demented," he answered, "and it's a pleasure to have you aboard."

Demented showed him around the ship. From the bow to the dining people scrambled around the place. All the while, the captain took him on a never ending tour. Once Yaebi thought it was almost over he was told they weren't even halfway done. This ship had everything. It was almost exciting for Yaebi to see all of these features. Yet again, Yaebi was amazed by what you could build in this world. After exiting the dining hall, he immediately saw Shelby. She looked a lot more exhausted than he did. She was also drenched in salt water: the same treatment the crew gave him. He wondered what the point of the knocking him out was when the only way to bring him back was to drown him. By the looks of it, Shelby was happy to see him. She moved closer to him but every part of her body seemed to ache. Nevertheless, she tightly hugged him.

"It's a good thing we came along when we did," announced Demented.

Yaebi was still confused as usual. This time about one thing.

"By the way who are you guys?"

Everyone turned towards the two. The whole crew glared for a while but then looked on with astonishment. They were all stunned for some reason. He could even hear the captain gasp. Was it something he said? No it couldn't have been. They were looking him up and down. The next thing he knew he was being dragged away to a dark cellar. For some reason he didn't protest. The door was slammed behind him, leaving him alone in a dark room. The only source of light was a dim lit lectern. Yaebi was shoved into a wooden chair and pushed into a table. Someone on the other side of the table adjusted the brightness of the lectern. The light was now too overwhelming to see the mans face. A taller figure stood behind the man sitting at the table. Yaebi knew what this was. It was an interview. Why would he need to be interviewed? He just met them. What could they possibly want with him?

"Alright, start explaining," ordered the man at the desk.

"What?"

"You know what we're talking about. Now spill the beans: where is Zambi?"

They knew who he was! The must've been mistaken. They may have known what he looked liked but it seemed as if they thought him an advocate of Zambi's. Well he wouldn't let them think this. He was in a dangerous situation.

"How should I know. He has been hunting my friend and I for a few months now which has lead us to being homeless! I have no idea!" He exclaimed.

The man looked at him sternly. He probably stated it differently.

"Sorry," he explained, " we've just been through a lot."

"I understand."

There was an awkward silence between the two. A few seconds afterwards the figure behind behind the interviewer whispered something into his ear. Yaebi couldn't make out what it was.

"Ah yes. How many humobs do you know?"

"Isn't that kind of a strange question?"

"That doesn't matter. We have reason to believe that Zambi grew up with other humobs. Now tell us how many do you know."

Yaebi had to answer truthfully.

"As many as he knows."

The interviewer took the news well and gave him a concerned look. It was a split second before Yaebi realized he was looking at his wounds.

"Looks like you fought hard today," the man noted.

"Yeah I guess."

The man got to a more personal distance with Yaebi.

"You know you don't seem like a guy who gets into fights."

He was right. Deep down he was still timid. Whatever got into him should've helped him talk to Shelby at least. After the last couple of questions Yaebi was free to go. The other man during the interview activated a lever on the right wall. The room was soon fully lit by redstone lamps. The other man turned out to be the captain, Demented.

"You are free to go."

Yaebi walked outside to find out that it was the late afternoon. It turned out that the sore feeling he had quickly faded. People were all over the place. Though Shelby was nowhere to be seen. _It's alright_, he thought, _she'll turn up eventually_. He. was positive. Seeing as how everyone was running some sort of task around the ship. Trying not to get in any trouble, Yaebi picked up the nearest mop and searched for the grimiest spot on the ship. After spending the rest of the afternoon doing this, the crew was highly impressed with his work. He then decided to go look for Shelby. It wouldn't take long. I mean how far could she go right? As he searched the upper deck, he was cornered by Demented.

"Hello there!"

"Oh hi," Yaebi responded lowering his gaze out of shyness.

The captain looked puzzled.

"Aren't you going to join us," he asked.

"For what?"

The captain gave a hearty laugh.

"Why for the feast!"

Yaebi was once again taken somewhere else against his will. Only this time he was lead to the dining hall. What awaited him inside was a shock. The entire crew, villagers and humans, were feasting at the big table. Everyone was laughing and were having a wonderful time with one another. Among them he spotted Shelby. As usual, she had Neptar perched on her shoulder. Whatever she was eating looked pretty good. Once she noticed him she smiled and gestured him over. _She saved a seat for me? Awesome!_ As Yaebi seated himself, the captain got everyones attention.

"Now you all know of this war we're fighting isn't going so well," he announced, "but destiny has provided us with two new friends. Every man counts!"

Wait! Since when did he agree to fight in any war? Shelby apparently didn't seem to mind.

"I'd like to make a toast," the captain continued, "to unity!"

"Unity!"

Everyone pounded glass together. They really did look happy. Yaebi almost forgot about what Demented said. The food was amazing. Everything went together just perfectly. The meal was fantastic. Sadly, Yaebi left the party shortly afterwards. After taking his remains to the hopper he exited the room. The sounds of joyous men faded as the doors closed. He spent most of the time leaning on a fence taking in the smell of seabreeze. It was pretty lonely out here. Pretty soon Shelby joined him. Her presence was welcoming to him.

"Hey what are you doing out here," she asked.

"I dunno."

There was a momentary silence once again between the two. He hated when this happened.

"You know Demented told me that we're sleeping in the lower deck," she noted.

She paused causing Yaebi to look to her. She smiled.

"I was hoping you could join."

Yaebi was overcome with happiness. He wasn't sleeping with her but she was now comfortable around him.

"That sounds nice."

Thank you guys for all the support. I feel my writing is suffering but I'm still getting some very positive feedback. I take those reviews to heart.


	12. Chapter 12

Yaebi arrived at the lower deck, unsure of what to expect. The place smelled of wet dog (which he should know). The planks underneath him stung his feet. Despite all of that, the place didn't look so bad. Shelby had already made herself at home and was probably already half asleep. Yaebi would never have said this to anyone but she was pretty cute when she slept. Yaebi shook the thought from his head. _That's your friend_, he thought. Yaebi decided it was time to go to sleep as well, as five other people had the same idea. One of them had the most obnoxious snore. Thankfully that guy was on the other side of the boat. He didn't blame the guy. You aren't entirely responsible for what you do when you're asleep. As he climbed up to the top bunk he made sure not to disturb Shelby. It was incredibly hard not to make a sound. The entire frame that held up the hammocks (or beds) was rickety. It created a sense of unease. Once he finally was able to lie down all that was left to do was to stay put and try to clear his mind. Yet he couldn't stop thinking. It was about Zambi. He had many times to consider this but had always refrained from thinking about it. Was there ever one time where Zambi was ever his friend? As a matter of fact there was. Those were some of his best memories. As he recalled there were plenty of times where Zambi awoke his brother and dragged him down to the nearest spring to skip stone. Most of the times they didn't skip any. Those times were when Zambi was the friendliest. Yaebi couldn't explain it. Though the transformation between friendly and cruel was quite rapid. In case you didn't know, Zambi actually got a kick out of people thinking Yaebi was a girl. Yaebi had thought that the times Zambi was nice could have all been a trick. But what purpose would it serve. Yaebi knew Zambi to be quite clever. All this thinking caused Yaebi to toss and turn. _Forget it man_. Eventually, he got to sleep.

Somehow Yaebi ended up face down in the grass. Wait there was no grass on the ship. How did he get here? Once he got up, he saw something breathtaking. _Oh my Notch! _It was the Aether, or what was left of it, in flames. Everything smelled charred or dead and the smoke stung his eyes. Every floating island was a battlefield. Everywhere he looked he saw a horrific sight. War was going on. He saw warriors take on legions. He saw machines blow apart the land. The sky was dominated by a dark cloud. Both armies fought valiantly. There was so much bloodshed Yaebi couldn't tell who was winning. He distinguished the two sides, the invaders and the rebels. On one side he saw familiar faces. They were of those he'd met and befriended. And they were falling. It was all heart wrenching. He couldn't stand to watch. The Aether was now in ruins and so many were dying. This couldn't be right. This was all wrong. Was this Zambi's intention? Was this really happening. No way was this possible. Zambi was vengeful, not a mad man. Yaebi knew this couldn't have been Zambi's work. He hadn't noticed it yet, but two of his friends were standing on either side of him. It was Cupa and Kairi. Yaebi looked at them and was shocked. Their eyes were full of sorrow and looked as if they'd been through hell. Kairi started to speak in a hurt voice that caught Yaebi off guard. Usually she was happy. Despite all of the chaos around them, her voice was well heard. Each of her words was petrifying. The way she spoke was that of someone with no hope or even emotion.

"Our world has fallen."

Cupa's voice was nearly identical. Hers was also broken.

"No one could prevent it," she said, "not even you."

Yaebi didn't want to see anymore. This wasn't the war. He was positive this wasn't real.

"Zambi's time will pass, and soon this one will too," Cupa uttered.

What did she mean? Was this someone else's doing? And was this prophecy or a nightmare? A stray bolt of fire hit the island they were standing on and obliterated the entire strip of land. All Yaebi could see was flames. The next thing he knew he was falling. No. Next to him. He saw the motionless bodies of his friends. No. No this couldn't be happening. No, no, no!

"Yaebi! Yaebi!"

The boy was shaken awake by a frantic Shelby.

"C'mon buddy wake up!"

Yaebi opened his eyes gasping for air. It took a few seconds for him to recover. He looked to Shelby who was just as confused and afraid as him. Only she was a bit more obvious.

"What the nether was going on?"

"You had a nightmare man," she explained, "it looked pretty brutal."

From out of nowhere, he grabbed his friend and hugged her. She didn't resist. He could tell she was confused however. This was not a natural reaction for the boy.

"Yaebi are you alright."

"Uh yeah, uh I'm fine," he replied realizing he was embracing her for way too long.

Whatever he saw was way too real. Nightmares were awful. The two stood there in silence. A man with a scraggly beard burst into the room. Sweat dripped off his chin in large droplets which landed on the floorboards beneath him creating huge puddles. He looked exhausted.

"You guys..*pant* *pant*... The captain wants you."

Yaebi almost forgot all about the dream and the hug. He immediately bolted out the the door without thinking. Anything to get his mind off that nightmare. Besides, hugging Shelby like that did feel pretty awkward. It wasn't the first time he did that though. The two joined the captain at the bow of the ship unsure of what to expect. The captain had his back turned to the couple. There was an awkward silence between the three. Captain Demented seemed perplexed by something. Yaebi looked in the same direction as him but saw nothing. He scanned the horizon. Not a thing in sight. Just as soon as Yaebi was about to say something the captain uttered a single set of words:

"Where was the last place you were attacked?"

That's all?

"Mushroom island," Shelby answered.

The captain turned to them with sunken eyes. Looked like he hadn't slept all night.

"That's the last place we saw their main ship," he noted.

That must have been who attacked them.

"Now no offense," he continued, "but if you two could survive that monster then so can we."

"What do you mean," Yaebi asked.

The captain handed him a pair of binoculars labeled _"optifine". _Yaebi scanned the horizon. For a few minutes he continued to look. As far as he knew there was nothing. Then he noticed something. Something that Yaebi never wanted to see. After a while he finally realized what it was. It was the same ship that terrorized mushroom island- and it was coming up fast. Yaebi remembered the firepower that ship possessed. From each of its cannons, Yaebi remembered bright red TNT bursting outward, blasting everything in sight. Yaebi gulped. If that thing took out half an island just imagine what it would do to a ship made out of wooden planks. Demented, however, didn't seem to worry as much as Yaebi. Yaebi couldn't believe this. It was a wonder that Demented only smirked in the face of danger.

"Well, this is gonna be interesting," the captain muttered.

That didn't sound good.

"Full sail," the captain exclaimed.

Men from around the ship climbed up the mast and released a few ropes. The old, yet extremely effective sails were dropped and the pretty soon the ship was propelling itself forward. This was insane. It wasn't just going forward- it was aimed right at the enemy ship!

"Why," Shelby asked frantically, "why would you do this."

The man looked at them with comforting eyes. Yaebi still trusted this man but his intentions now proved otherwise.

"We are not going around them," the captain announced, "that ship is blocking the way to the kingdom. The kingdom where all our forces are. If this is one of the top ships then we will have accomplished something spectacular my friends."

The entire crew listened up. Yaebi could tell this wasn't the first time he gave a speech. He had to admit though: the man was truelly inspirational. But how good was he on the battle field?

"Alright men, to your stations!"

Everyone dashed away and came back with swords of gold iron and even diamond. The entire crew devided into two groups. These groups dispersed on either side of the boat. By now they were nearly one hundred feet away from the enemy ship. The captain drew his own weapon. It was like nothing Yaebi had ever seen before. The blade appeared to be made purely out of shadows. The material it was made of was unknown to Yaebi.

"Obsidian," remarked the captain noticing his confusion, "made it myself."

Obsidian? Yaebi had heard of that stuff. That was the hardest material he'd ever seen before. Even a man with a diamond pickax would have trouble tearing it out of the ground. How did this guy manage shaping it into a blade. But that didn't matter now. What mattered was why the captain was going for a full frontal assault. Unless- that ship was a key figure in this war. In fact, the captain must have thought their forces were weak after fighting him and Shelby. It was a risky thought but it showed that the captain had faith in them. He hadn't even seen them fight before- until now. By the time Yaebi drew his weapon, the crew of the other ship was now visible. He could see them snarling at him and Shelby. It was almost as if they were expecting them. Though for some odd reason, the ship didn't appear to be in very good condition. The mast was partially crack and the entire right side was peppered with holes. It was as if they had just come back from a gruesome battle. One that would be no different than this. As the attackers prepared themselves, Yaebi reached for something in his left pocket. Knives. Just then all at once, almost all the attacking mobs jumped aboard the ship. A few of them let out some kind of war cry. That's when all hell rang loose. From all around Yaebi could see enemies fighting one another. He hadn't seen anything like this. A great sense of fear came over the boy. Shelby was no where in sight. Before he could look even further one of the attackers lunged at him. Thankfully, Yaebi was able to dodge just in time. He looked his attacker in the eyes. It was a zombie. At this distance Yaebi could make out ghastly facial features. On the zombie's left side there was a wide gash up the side of his cheek. On his right side was another cut that went from his forehead down to his neck. It was only a split second before the attacker launched another assault on Yaebi. Only this time, he blocked. The powerful blow caused him to stumble. He struggled to keep his balance. This enemy was one of the more powerful he could tell. With hardly any time to spare, Yaebi dodged the next blow and blocked the one after that. But once Yaebi swung his blade it was blocked with ease. His enemy looked him in the eyes and sneered. The two engaged in a brutal dual. The two were at a standstill for the longest time. Both of them appeared to be a match for each other. Through all the chaos, Yaebi was able to catch glimpses of other people's fights. He even noticed captain Demented fighting victoriously among the crew members. He saw him take on multiple enemies at once. Within mere seconds, the captain struck down those mobs. This distracted Yaebi and brought him to the floorboards. Yaebi used all the strength in his arms to keep the blade from reaching his throat. He was forced to look his intruder in the eye yet again. Then, through the corner of his eye he saw something extremely helpful. While in the midst of battle the captain walked up to one of his fallen foes and tore of the attacker's armor. This, therefor, caused the monster to go up in flames. _The monster curse!_ _Of course_, he thought. Without the armor they defenseless during the day. He looked at his own enemy. The only armor he possessed was an iron chest plate. Without hesitation, Yaebi kicked the other zombie off and struck him in the side. Yaebi was finally able to regain his footing. After awhile Yaebi noticed his attacker starting to stumble. He realized not only did he damage the armor, but also found the zombie's weakness. Now the attacker was much more reckless. The zombie swung with powerful force only to have it go in vain as Yaebi dodged ever shot. And with every dodge Yaebi was able to get the upper hand as he struck the brute repetitively in the sword. He was going to win. But before he could deliver the final blow, he was hit with an arrow. The arrow pierced his hand causing him to drop the sword. Yaebi winced in pain. Who shot that? He looked back and saw one of the bonebags aiming its bow at him. During the chaos, Yaebi's other enemy was now able to recover. It was then Yaebi realized that he was screwed. He was unarmed and in between a rock and a hard place. That's when he remembered he had something useful. It was his knives. No one had a clue that he had them. Only Shelby knew how good he was when using them. As he reached for his pocket, the skeleton drew his bow further. His other enemy, however, hadn't the slightest idea. With the slight of hand, Yaebi chucked one of the daggers into the bonebag's head. The impact of the sharp object not only penetrated but cracked the bone of his attacker. This assault nearly killed the guy. Yaebi's attention was now turned to the zombie who was awestruck. Without warning he launched a second knife into the shoulder of his original attacker. The fleshbag winced in pain, giving Yaebi enough time to grab his sword. Before the attacker could pull out the knife, Yaebi slashed him with his weapon. It could have been the final blow. Yaebi struck again, shattering the armor. His enemy winced in pain and backed away from the boy. _This is it_, he thought, _now you die_. He waited for the flames to engulf his foe. But his enemy remained. He may have been severely injured but he was still in a normal state. He looked up and grinned. He knew he wasn't burning.

"You idiot," he exclaimed, "we don't all need armor."

Yaebi had enough of this guy. He was not only powerful but arrogant. Grabbing one last knife he launched a final assault. He threw the blade with enough force to throw him off balance. the impact that came afterwards was brutal. The blade cut right through the throat of the monster. Yaebi could only watch as his enemy died helplessly gasping for air. It was a horrific sight. Eventually the lack of oxygen and blood killed the zombie. Though this wasn't the time to watch. Yaebi knew he had to help his friend immediately. By now she could have been cornered by a dozen mobs. He scanned the ship with haste hoping she was all right. He ducked under swords and dodged arrows to get to her location. After about a minute he finally found her. She was several yards away, and had company. She was dealing with two other zombies. She appeared to be doing fine but Yaebi noticed a pigman approaching her. He was overcome with a sense of worry. He had to stop the attacker before it reached Shelby. She couldn't handle that many enemies. Without thinking he charged the monster. Though once he made contact it was like ramming a brick wall. He must've blacked out for a while. He barely even hurt the creature. Though it was enough to get his attention. The warrior picked him up by his collar and tossed him across the deck. Yaebi hit the ground like a rock nearly knocking him unconscious. Once Yaebi got to his knees he looked up. The pigman was still slowly walking towards his friend. Apparently it didn't care about the boy. All he had done was buy his friend some time. He had to stop the monster at all costs. That's when he remembered he still had some knives. He grabbed the nearest one to his hand and, without hesitating, chucked it in the zombie pigman's direction. Yaebi realized his aim was slightly off. Instead of crippling the brute it went straight through its ear. The pigman stopped dead in its tracks and pulled the knife out. Yaebi was thankful at first, but now had the monster's attention. It was now snarling in his direction. The slight smirk was now wiped off Yaebi's face. He started to think that was a mistake. The monster became outraged and charged towards the boy. He was immediately overcome with a sense of fear that was nearly paralyzing. Yaebi was able to get out of the way just in time. The creature crashed into a pair of wooden planks but quickly recovered. The pigman then, with its own diamond sword, slashed at Yaebi. The boy was able to jump away in time but blocked the next one. The monster brought the sword down on his head delivering a staggering blow, bringing him to his knees. Yaebi realized this creature was much more powerful than him. Yaebi ducked and dodged the next set of attacks. The missed shots caused the monster to obliterate crates scattered around the place. The pigman may have been slow but Yaebi was way too exhausted to keep this up. Pretty soon he would fumble and the monster would get him. All he could do now was keep dodging. He was running out of strength. Then from out of nowhere a sword jabbed through the attacker's chest. In that short time yaebi was able to catch his breath. Yaebi was surprised. For the next three seconds the brute gasped for air before falling to the ground. Yaebi became even more surprised when he saw Kairi holding the sword. She smiled at him.

"Need a hand?"

Together the two assaulted Shelby's enemies. She thanked them immediately. Without anyone on his back, Yaebi scanned the ship. By now everyone was already victorious. All of the invaders were dead. In other words, there was no one left to fight.

"We did it," Yaebi exclaimed.

Though once Yaebi ran up to the side of the boat he was proven otherwise. Spiders started to crawl up the side of the ship. They scaled cannon holes in order to keep from getting blasted. The whole crew noticed this and fired their bows. Some of the spiders were way too fast to hit. Yaebi, who was without a bow, grabbed his knives and started chucking them left and right as they reached the deck. He didn't miss a single one. But once a good portion of the spiders reached the deck the crew members were driven back. The evil arachnids launched themselves on top of defenseless people and began gnashing their fangs into the poor souls. The venom slowly started to kill them. Thankfully other crew members tore away the attacking monsters and save their friends lives. One attempted to do the same to Yaebi but, after witnessing all the commotion, he drove his sword into its thorax nod tossed it across the deck. The creature twitched its legs before crumbling and spilling its juices. Yaebi looked back and saw that all of the monsters were taken care of. He was now relieved that they were taken care of. Dead bodies littered the place. He didn't spot any of crew members among the pile.

"Everyone down," Demented yelled.

Yaebi along with the rest of the crew, ducked. Using instinct, Yaebi put his hands behind his neck and put his head between his knees. He could hear TNT whizzing past him. He didn't get up for a while. But once he did he saw that the other ships crew was now reloading the cannons. This was a game changer. This ship appeared to have much more fire power and no one else was manning the guns. Yet once people tried to get to the guns they were shot up with arrows. Thankfully none of the wounds inflicted were fatal. At least not yet. Yaebi started to panic. These guys now had the upper hand. There was nothing in his power that he could do. The captain however remained strong and stared down the enemy. He was quite the admirable character. Whichever one of the mobs he was looking at must have been crapping himself.

A shadow passing overhead caught Yaebi's attention. He forgot all about what was going on and took a good look at the sky. What he saw forced him to become overjoyed. It was Kairi hovering at least fifty feet above the enemy ship. He hadn't realized she had left his side with all the chaos. But that wasn't the reason Yaebi was happy. In her hand he saw a block of TNT. As far as he knew there weren't any blocks of TNT on the ship. In a flash of light the fuse was ignited and the block was dropped. Yaebi watched as it crashed into the middle of the ship. It hit the ground with a loud thud. He could hear the loud hiss going off. Though certainly one block wasn't going to cut it. Conveniently, a stock of gunpowder was not far. None of the mobs noticed, except for their Enderman captain. Noticing this, the towering creature teleported away. Better alive than dead. Then in an instant, the entire ship was ignited and all you could see was white. Wreckage was thrown everywhere and the entire mass was up in flames. There were no words to describe it. Everything was burning. After the dust had settled and the enemy ship sank beneath the waves, everyone cheered in triumph. There was more noise than before with everyone yelling at the top of their lungs. He could hardly believe it. They won! Their ship may have now been in terrible condition but at least it was still standing. Yaebi saluted his friend in the skies. And with that she flew off. He was more than happy to know her. Yaebi had to admit Kairi was an amazing girl. Then again, she wasn't his type. We all know who that is. Yaebi was still trying to process the fact that he'd survived all that. At that moment a bewildered and very excited Shelby pulled him into a death hug. He returned the same, embracing her. He loved doing this. Sure he wasn't necessarily "loved" by her. But he was her friend. And that made him the happiest guy in the world. During the hug Shelby whispered something into his ear.

"You're awesome."

Yaebi couldn't help but blush. She thought he was awesome. In some crazy part of his mind he wanted to say "I love you". That would probably make her uncomfortable. Besides, it wasn't the right time to confess. It would seem a little strange to do it in the middle of a battlefield. But the battle was over. Yaebi was starting to realize that he was stalling. For the rest of the afternoon, people cleaned off the deck. During this, Yaebi gathered what knives he could from his enemy's corpses. He wiped the intestinal juices off the blade so he could use them later. It may have been disgusting, but it was necessary. If he was to cut himself with a dirty knife he would be no safer than his targets. Then again, he was immune to any type of potion or infection. After finishing his task, he leaned up against the mast and just sat there, daydreaming. He missed the Aether. He missed his old friends. This was weird since the thought of missing his friend hadn't occurred in weeks. Sure he missed them every day but today was a little different. A very exhausted Boga came over and sat on his lap. No matter what the oaf wouldn't budge. Yaebi sighed.

"Well at least I've got you and Neptar."

_And Shelby_. As the sun started to set people, started gathering in the dining hall. Yaebi had to lift his dog off of his lap to see what was going on. He figured it must have been another dinner like last night. Yaebi decided he wasn't that hungry so he slumped back down and continued to scratch Boga's underside. He had to admit: though this dog may have seemed lazy he was quite the fighter. Suddenly one very happy looking testificate came up to him.

"Hey aren't you coming," the villager asked.

Yaebi shrugged. Not that there was anything wrong but he didn't see anything important about an event such as dinner. It seemed pretty ordinary. Nevertheless the villager took him by the arm and pulled him along.

"Whoa what the Nether are you doing?!"

The villager continued to pull him along. Yaebi was more confused than irritated.

"The captain wants you," the testificate answered a while afterwards.

After entering the dining hall, Yaebi could feel a hundred eyes looking at him. He immediately felt awkward. So many faces looking at him. Among them were Shelby and Demented. The Captain sat at the foot of the table. Demented stood up and began speaking in Yaebi's direction.

"Good to see you again Yaebi," he said, "now we didn't mean to put you on the spot light, but the crew was wondering if you could perform for us."

"Uh what?"

Yaebi must've been hearing things. Yaebi never agreed to any performance. Besides this was from out of nowhere. And what did he mean by perform.

"I'm sorry did I hear you say...perform?"

"Well of course."

The captain started to explain what this was all about and why everyone was staring at him.

"You see, with us sailors being out on the water for days on end we get pretty bored outta our minds. Now I don't know the numbskull who thought this up but he made it tradition that everyone who was new had to perform something for the crew. Don't worry we won't laugh or anything."

_What type of performance_, he wondered. It better not have been something stupid. What if these guys wanted to see him roll around like a dog? What was it? The captain seemed to know what Yaebi was thinking as he answered that same question without him asking.

"Don't worry Shelby picked for you," he continued, "You two are doing it together."

The captain grinned at those last words. From behind the table, two guys quickly put down a jukebox and a crafting table covered in papers. Yaebi was starting to get the idea now. Sure he was a little nervous but how bad could it be. Besides it's not like he would be seeing these guys forever. Shelby was the first to walk up to the stand. There was no backing out of it now. Eventually, Yaebi was able to join her. Everywhere he looked people were still eying him. _All right Yaebi you can do this, _he whispered to himself. Shelby didn't seem to mind. She picked up a few sheets of paper and flipped through them. Once she finally found the "decent" one she whispered to guy who, in turn, handed her a disc. Yaebi knew what they were doing: singing. That wasn't so hard. Yaebi did it quite a few times in his cave days. Though not while anyone was looking. It wasn't that he enjoyed singing; it's just that even he got bored in the caves as well. He even learned a few songs before. The obsidian wall behind them was now lit up like a screen. In fact, it was a screen. Anyone who made that had spent a lot of time with redstone. All the Lecterns were turned down so only the screen and the two friends were visible. Without further ado, Shelby announced the song.

"Cube Land. By Laura Shigihara."

A few seconds later, music started playing from all around. Yaebi knew this song. He loved it. As the first lyrics were sung Yaebi gave his heart to the microphone. The feeling he had was ecstatic. Sometimes he felt a relation to the song as it mentioned fighting the skeletons and zombies. Every word was moving. This was fantastic. More importantly, he got to do it with the girl he liked.

_Think fast it's got to last if you're gonna make it through the rest of the day._

The two took turns in between verses and would even sing together. When Yaebi had his turn, he looked to Shelby as he spoke these lyrics. Every part of the song made his heart throb.

_I'll keep going, just stay by my side._

At the end of it all, everyone cheered. That was probably one of the best songs he ever knew. And it was good to know that nobody judged him. Heck, these people were like family. They stuck up for one another. The boy was overcome with happiness. He looked into the faces of all those whom he worked with. Sadly, something depressing occurred to him in that. Yaebi knew they would eventually have to leave them. After all, he feared he might endanger them. He cared to much about these people to let them get pulled into this awful conflict. Once they reached their destination, there was no going back. But, never, would he leave Shelby.

I hope you enjoyed this chapter. I worked extremely hard on it. I would like to let you guys know that my minecraft name is MegatronElite. But besides that I would like someone to email to me what Yaebi's should be. Iwas thinking 14 or 15. Just give me your opinion.


	13. Chapter 13

For three days Yaebi helped with maintaining the mast of the ship. It wasn't entirely hard. It was a little difficult when releasing the sails. Sometimes the ropes would get stuck, but it was usually easy to fix. Life was pretty boring here on the ship. He could understand why people made a tradition of watching others perform. Of course, doing it repeatedly others would just get bored. Thankfully, he was able to have some pretty good conversations with the men who also tended to the sails. As he prepared one of the sails, Demented started to get his attention.

"Hey Yaebi," he called up.

"What?"

The captain gestured him over.

"C'mere For a second."

"Um, sure..okay."

Yaebi climed down the mast's ladder, being extremely careful not to lose his footing. He had done this a dozen times by now. Yet it was still a freaky feeling. When half way down he could feel gusts of wind pushing against him trying to change his path. He could could feel the mast swaying in the breeze. It felt that at any moment the entire thing could just snap in half. Despite this Yaebi climed down at a steady pace. He made sure to quicken himself since it was better to get down as soon as possible. Sure it was risky if you weren't careful. It was much worse to climb down slowly. As soon as he got down, the captain looked him up and down making Yaebi felt a little uncomfortable. _Hey it's not like it's the first time anyone's stared at me_, he thought. Thankfully, Demented was brief. He gave the boy a puzzled look.

"Yaebi how old are you," he asked.

"Fifteen," he answered, "why?"

"Oh, no reason."

Well that was odd. Why would anyone ask about his age? Yet the captain wasn't done speaking. When it was someone respectable Yaebi was always attentive. Not that he ignored people.

"Walk with me," the captain gestured.

The two walked up the main deck and climbed up the stairs to the upper deck. This was the one part of the ship Yaebi had never discovered. There was apparently nothing to look at. All there was were a couple of crates and a wheel for steering the ship. Nothing much to see. However, while leaning against the railing, the entire ship could be seen. Everyone looked a lot more smaller. The view was almost amazing. Even from this height, Yaebi could make out little details. He felt a sense of amusement from this height. It was much different from that of the crows nest.

"Well, let's begin shall we," concluded the captain.

"Begin what," Yaebi asked.

He still no idea why he was up here. It couldn't have been because of the view. He looked to the captain in confusion who, in turn, smiled back. What was going on?

"Let's see what you're made of."

_Oh crap_. From behind the captain, three of the crates exploded sending chunks of wood everywhere. It wasn't like any fiery explosion that he had ever seen. Demented didn't seem to mind but Yaebi was startled. He shielded his face from the incoming debris. After about two seconds he fully recovered. Once he was able to focus he realized demented was gone and out of the decimated boxes came three aether monsters. Cockatrices. Their long curved beaks dripped poison and their eyes gave him a petrifying glare. Was this a setup? Was the captain really trying to kill him? There was no time to decide whether or not this was true. With sword in hand Yaebi charged the beasts. As they held their ground, Yaebi was shot in the shoulder. These guys were accurate. Yaebi backed up and pulled the foreign object out of his body. He had to do this quickly since the monsters would not stop firing. That wasn't the most painful part. Yaebi could feel the dark substance seeping through his veins into his systems. It stung. Though, being a zombie, strong poisons didn't have the same effect on him. From within, immense groups of unknown antibodies were expelling and terminating the foreign substance. The process was excruciatingly painful. It was nevertheless helpful. It was definitely better than being sick. Yaebi managed to dodge and deflect arrows while recovering. The arrows finally stopped and Yaebi had fully recovered. The boy looked each of them in the eyes. All he saw was bloodlust. These guys were obviously not like Kairi.

"So you guys think you can kill me, huh," he announced.

No one responded and the cockatrices gave him a puzzled look. They didn't understand what he was saying. And why wasn't anyone else responding? Whatever, this was his fight- and he intended to win.

"Well think again."

He charged one of the Cockatrices with enough force to send one flying. He impaired the creature with his sword and set his eyes on the next one. The expression in the mobs face went from bloodlust to utter terror. It was only a split second before Yaebi slashed his enemy's gut and stabbed the other one through the eyes. He hated doing this. The boy was not typically violent and he hated the sight of blood. But ever since that Enderman cornered him at the old house, Yaebi had learned how to defend himself. Now the instinct if fighting just came to him. He wished that one day all of this would stop. He stood there alone on the top deck cockatrice bodies littering the place. The thought of all this made him sick. He, however, never despised any fighter. They fought for a cause greater than him. They were far different from cold blooded murderers. The thought that kept Yaebi going was the fact that they were his enemies. They were threat to him and his loved ones. And as long as they were Yaebi wouldn't hesitate to stop them. Though when he looked back at their discarded bodies all he saw were dead animals. It was natural for them to die. He realized he was getting emotional about these feathered fiends. Why did these ones matter. They were no different from any other monster he encountered. They still displayed the same look of anger in their eyes. Yaebi pushed aside the motionless bodies and journeyed down to the wine cellar. Nobody looked at him, yet he felt self conscious. _You didn't commit murder_, he assured himself. He needed to get away and get things straight. He knew he couldn't focus on all the damage. He needed to sit down and think things over: was the captain trying to kill him? Was this some kind of test? Yaebi entered the wine cellar through a smuggler's hole making sure to close the entrance. _Pretty dark down here_, he whispered. The whole place was lit by only three lecterns. They hung from the ceiling on loose leads. Despite the dim lighting Yaebi could see plenty. All that was left now was to find some place to sit. There was plenty of room. Despite the name, not everything here was wine. In fact, a lot of the stuff here consisted of gunpowder and sand. Yaebi looked around for a place to sit. He started to go back and forth among the crates of food and explosives. After about a minute or so he spotted something unexpected. It was Demented, slumped against the wall. Yaebi was startled. _Now let's not make conclusions_. The captain looked at him with a blank stare. Yaebi sat down next to the captain putting some distance between them.

"Oh hey," the captain said.

There were no words afterwards.

"What was that," Yaebi asked, "were you trying to kill me?"

The captain scoffed.

"What. No that was just a test. I respect you man."

"Well I respect you too," he responded.

"Hmm."

The captain returned to staring at the wall. This conversation wasn't progressing. Well at least he knew the captain wasn't putting a hit out on him.

"What do you mean, test," he asked.

"Well I never really saw you on the battlefield because I was preoccupied," the captain answered, "so I wasn't able to see how formidable a fighter you were."

Demented smiled.

"Apparently you are."

That was nice to know. Yaebi believed that even if he did fail and the mobs cornered him, the captain would assist him. That's the guy he was.

"So why Cockatrices."

The captain shrugged.

"Heard you went to the Aether, thought you could handle it."

"What if I was poisoned?"

"You said it yourself, you're immune."

The two sat there for a long period of time. Neither of them had anything to say. That was until the older of the two spoke up.

"I was five when I realized I could kill ants."

The captain paused. His voice was different now. It was full of sorrow.

"I didn't think anything of it at the time but I controlled the lives of so many. Of course I don't do that stuff anymore but when I did I slaughtered them. The next day I dug up their colony. The day after that they went deeper. The next day was the same. They still kept going deeper until one day I buried them. I didn't think anything of it but all they could see was the dark."

The captain didn't seem like the kind of guy who did this. He couldn't help feeling the guy was trying to tell him something else. He wasn't finished speaking.

"Their next attack will be crippling," he continued.

Yaebi left the wine cellar now a little less confused but still startled. He was greeted by a very content Shelby.

"Hi there," she said, "where've you been?"

Then she noticed blood on his shoulder. She immediately became concerned. He could tell she was looking at his latest battle wound.

"Y-yeah I'm fine."

Yaebi sat against a crate. Shelby joined him. It was pretty awesome to have her around. The look of concern did not leave her eyes.

"Tell me what happened," she said.

"It was just some Cockatrices, nothing much."

"Huh. Yeah those guys suck."

"Tell me about it. Remember that cliff side."

"Oh yeah," she exclaimed.

"But are you really ok?" She asked.

Yaebi gave her a slight nod.

"I'm fine. But thanks for asking."

But Shelby saw through him. She knew what was really on his mind. Somehow she knew that something was bothering him. Something big- and it had to do with the war.

"Shelby," he asked, "Did you ever wonder if things would get better?"

"What do you mean?"

"The war. Ever since we left the nether there's been nothing but chaos."

"C'mon don't say that."

"But its true. We have been attacked more and more each time we find a new home."

"Yet we've managed."

"But don't you miss home? They took that from us," he said, "I took that from you."

Yaebi was starting to panic a little. He blamed himself for the mess they were in. Shelby tried to diminish his worry. She slightly grabbed his chin and turned his gaze towards her since he was starting to look away. Her eyes were kind and beautiful. As hard as eye contact could be he couldn't look away.

"Look Yaebi I know things may seem bad now. But you know what, I have faith in us. We will get through this."

Those words were heartfelt and very true. He could hear the confidence in her voice. That was one thing Yaebi admired: her hope. Although being caught in the middle of a war may have been frightening it was her that kept him going. She was the one reason Yaebi never left.

"Remember those words," she noted, "I'll keep going, just stay by my side."

Yaebi smiled.

"I always liked that song," he said.

"Me too."

Yaebi now looked to her.

"Shelby," he added, "I'm glad we're friends."

She smiled back.

"I feel the same."

The more time he spent with his friend the happier he was. She was the greatest. The two then exchanged in a conversation that went on for hours. Maybe that was exaggerating but Yaebi wasn't keeping time. The two talked about life and such. It didn't really matter. As long as he was talking with Shelby. But at one point Shelby brought up something amazing. Yaebi couldn't help but smile.

"You know you're nothing like other zombies."

"How so?"

"What do you mean. Haven't you noticed."

"Noticed what."

"Your nature, your actions everything," she added.

"I don't understand."

"You're telling me you haven't noticed?"

"Then tell me then. What makes me different?"

Shelby started to get intimate.

"You are the kindest, most generous, most loyal friend I've ever had. You're a little funny as well. The zombies should be honored to share your blood. I've fought alongside you as you followed me through Heaven and Hell. Yet through all the Can't you see how amazing you are?"

All of this rocked his world. Every word she spoke lifted his spirits a great deal. Those were some of the nicest words anyone ever spoke to him. She looked at him with truthful eyes. They had never looked more beautiful. It was time to return the favor. It was time to tell the truth.

"Shelby I never told you this but you are an amazing girl. You're smart brave and you've had my back ever since I woke up in your house. But other than that there's no possible way to explain Yaebi."

Yaebi's face was again red as redstone and now Shelby was giving him a warm smile.

"Thanks Yaebi, that really means alot to me."

Yaebi shrugged.

"You mean a lot to me," he said.

This time Shelby's face was flushing red. Her eyes grew wider. Was she sick? No, she was just like him. Yaebi didn't know if she liked him or not. But it was his responsibility to tell her how much he cared for her. He couldn't let her go on unsuspecting of how he felt about her.

"Shelby I, uh, I.."

_Bang!_ Before Yaebi could finish, the deck erupted sending millions of chunks everywhere. Yaebi's hearing left him within that time. He had lost sight of Shelby and was now being propelled backward. He flew for three seconds before crashing into a pile of crates. The corner of one of the boxes jabbed him in the side. But he recovered. After fighting himself to get up he looked at his surroundings. It was Hell. Everywhere he looked humans and villagers were running in panic. The entire mass was cracked in half and there was a huge gaping hole right where they were standing. Yaebi realized they were under attack. His ears slowly started to mend themselves and he could hear the unforgettable sounds of chaos. He started to hear feet shuffling from not far away. Then, he heard the captain yelling. At first the man's voice was distorted. Then a moment later, he could make out words.

"Look to the sky men! Look to the sky!"

Yaebi looked up and in an instant all of his senses were functional. What he saw was mindboggling. They found him. From out of the clouds came large cloud like creatures with scorpion tails. Zephyrs. Yaebi was less then happy to see them. Now these weren't the fast, brown counterparts. These ones were white and kept a high altitude. The only difference between these and any other zephyr he encountered befor was their projectiles. Yaebi's eyes widened as the monsters prepared to fire. The shots produced blew holes into the deck. These weren't just simple snowballs. They were firing blocks of ice. Hail as some might say. People ran back and forth or scrambled to their stations. The captain, however, remained strong and ordered an attack on the invading enemy. The men obeyed their captain immediatly. Each person must have been manning a cannon. It was no use. The enemy was too high and too far away. There were at least three or four zephyrs. And among them, a tempest. That's what caused the explosion. The presence of one of those beasts was bad news. The other zephyrs could slowly tear this ship appart. But a tempest, that could blow them out of the water. Yaebi looked back and forth, searching for something to use. But then he saw something awful. Something he only thought possible in nightmares. From across the ship, underneath a pile of rubble lay a motionless Shelby. Her face was devoid of any expression. He could see a desperate Neptar nudging her, begging her to get up. _No_, he thought, _this can't be happening_. It was as if the whole world stopped and nothing else mattered. A dozen thoughts ran through his head at once. He stopped breathing. It felt like the end of the world. It might as well have been. He must've stood their for ages not moving, just completely awestruck. A moment later he snapped. He dash across the entire deck pushing things out of his way and ignoring incoming projectiles. He increased his speed with every step. He was breathing heavily and his eyes started to flood. Nothing could stop him now. With lightning fast speed, he dashed to Shelby's location and leapt on top of her. She looked worse up close. It was a truly horrific sight. Yaebi was too worried to think straight. He had to in order to save his best friend. The one he loved. Using some form of instinct, Yaebi placed his hands on her chest. Her skin was freezing. He pushed down on her chest repetitively. The amount of force applied shook the floorboards around them. Yaebi tried to ignore the battle going on behind him. Yaebi fought desperately. He wouldn't let this go. Notch couldn't have her now. A few thrusts later Yaebi quickly brought his mouth to hers and blew air into her lungs. He did this multiple times before returning to pumping her chest.

"Come on Shelby," he pleaded, "don't do this to me girl."

He wiped the sweat off his brow as it started to blind him.

"I won't let you go," he screamed, "I won't let you go!"

He was panicking more than ever now. Each thrust and breath was full of desperation. He would never quit. But Shelby wasn't responding. He hoped to see her dazzling smile. To talk with her again the next day. _Don't die dammit_. His efforts were futile. There was no movement. Yaebi halted all his attempts and just looked at her. There was no smile. It wasn't the Shelby he knew. He couldn't help it. All at once, all of his feelings poured out of him and he began sobbing. This couldn't be happening, this wasn't right. He tried to deny that any of this could've been real. He wouldn't accept this. This was the worst he ever cried. She really was gone. His best friend, the one who took him in, the girl he loved, was gone. Nothing could make this any better. Yaebi wanted to be with her. His sorrow was overwhelming. He picked up her cold body and looked at her.

"You deserve better," he muttered.

The explosions started to get even closer. He didn't care. He fought for her. He looked to the sky with spite. He hated them. He had no idea where he would go now. But the first thing would be to make sure this crime doesn't come unanswered.

'Cough, cough."

Something immediately stole Yaebi away. All sorrow was replaced with hope. _Could it have been_? He looked at the body of his friend with hope in his eyes. He knew it couldn't be true. There was still no movement. Her eyes remained closed. _What am I thinking_. Just as soon as he was about to turn away, he heard some more coughing and even some wheezing. He checked and realized it was Shelby. Her eyes fluttered open and was gasping for air. _Thank you Notch_! Yaebi was so overcome with happiness that he was speechless. He couldn't believe it. She was still alive. She was still with him.

"Thankyouthankyouthankyou."

He watched as Shelby's eyes darted back and forth searching for an explanation. He understood what she was going through. she was a little scared but alright. Until she locked eyes with him did she realize what was going on.

"Thank you."

Before he could put Shelby down he noticed something sticking out of the floorboards was a sledge hammer. It seemed as if Notch's miracles weren't over yet. He recognized this hammer. If he was correct it was light enough to carry in one hand. As he reached for it Shelby let herself down. The poor girl was still shivering. Yaebi, already relieved, now focused his attention on the zephyrs. He should've join the battle a lot earlier. Everything was in pieces. He aimed the top of the hammer at the first zephyr he set his eyes on. There was no way in the Nether that he would back out of this. The very recent thrill he had just been through motivated him into what he was about to do. And that was taking these bastards out of the sky. After making sure his aim was correct, he fired. That's right fired. This was one of the legendary weapons of the Aether. It was one of the very few war hammers. This was the legendary Hammer of Notch. Or at least a replica of the original. In fact, the original had never been found before. But this was still quite the weapon. With Yaebi's willpower the great instrument shot out blasts of energy. The speed and accuracy of this weapon were amazing. It fired at a rate he hadn't thought possible. _Awesome_, he thought_, gotta get one of these_. These zephyrs were tough. They were either armored or enchanted by some kind of potion. Despite this, with twenty or so hits, Yaebi had managed to send one zephyr crashing into the sea. He had to admit this weapon was really fun to use. Just the fact that it hardly had any knock back made it even more exciting. A huge smile was carved into his face. They were going to win now. Shelby would be safe and so would everyone else. Then again, the ship had underwent massive damage especially to the mast. It seemed that after this battle was through, everyone would have to travel by wood boat. Yet that didn't matter now. Yaebi winced in pain as his hand was struck with great force. These ice bombs did a lot of damage especially to wooden structures. Yaebi refused to look at his own hand for fear of seeing it mangled. It was beyond painful. Worse, he couldn't see his weapon anywhere. The boy searched around frantically for the holly weapon. He had to find it was the only way to-

"Yaebi look," Shelby exclaimed.

Yaebi looked up and once again, his mind was blown. There weren't just zephyrs. No, much worse. Large dull- white creatures with multiple tentacles dangling from their bodies hung from the clouds. Ghasts. Now they really were screwed. There wasn't a chance any of them would be getting out of this, wood boat or not. But then something amazing happened. The ghasts completely ignored the ship- and set their blood red eyes on the zephyrs. This was unbelievable. How did they get up here and why were they not attacking? With those notch awful shrieks they opened fire on the other airborn intruders. The explosions could be heard from below. The zephyrs fired back but caused little effect. The gasbags fired again this time killing the enemies. Whatever was left of the zephyrs was now falling into the ocean. They were all dead, every single one of them. Without paying any mind to the ship the ghasts turned tail and flew off. _What the Nether_, Yaebi thought. Was he just seeing things? Maybe they were out of range. Maybe they were tired. But Yaebi knew none of that could be true. They weren't that far away and were going at normal speed. Once they were out of sight everyone cheered. All around people high fived or embraced the nearest person. Yaebi, like everyone else, was overjoyed. Though his reaction was more subtle. He was awestruck and couldn't respond. That was until Shelby brought him back to earth. She turned his head towards her and gave him a bewildered smile. She was just as happy.

"We made it."

"Yes."

They went through hell and came out on the other side. Sure they didn't stop the attack themselves but they survived.

"I can't believe-"

The most amazing thing happened. Shelby grasped the back of his head and, before he could protest, she locked lips with him. She really was kissing him. Yaebi's eyes flew open. At first he pulled away, but then he relaxed. Breathing wasn't a problem now. He realized he was loving this. Pretty soon he was fully at peace. The sensation he was feeling was like no other he ever had. Shelby's long, beautiful hair now hung over his shoulders. Yaebi couldn't help but steal warmth from her lips. It seemed as if other people were staring now, but he didn't care. It didn't matter what they thought. He was enjoying this. The kiss seemed to last forever. But pretty soon they finished due to lack of oxygen. Yaebi looked into her kind eyes. It wasn't the first time he marveled at their beauty. Yaebi returned the same expression to her.

"I'll keep going, just stay by my side," Shelby quoted.

"I will, I always will."

He would.

Hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. So hope I didn't piss any of you off. It is a 'little' rushed but I really did work hard. And sorry about the absence, sometimes I don't feel like writing. And please don't criticize the dialog I really have problems with writing it.


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